Five bidders competed for Vincent van Gogh’s “L’Allée des Alyscamps” from his renowned Arles period, which sold to an Asian private collector for $66.3 million.

One of five works by Claude Monet that totaled $115.4 million, was the leader, “Nymphéas” from 1905, which realized $54 million and went to an American private collector.

It was a heady time Tuesday evening in Sotheby’s flagship saleroom in New York City as the firm’s sale of Impressionist and Modern art is underway, and a number of outstanding prices have already been achieved, including two major works by Van Gogh and Monet together commanding more than $120 million.

Hotly contested by no fewer than five bidders, Vincent van Gogh’s “L’Allee des Alyscamps” sold for $66,330,000 to an Asian private collector. That price, a record for a landscape by the artist at auction, is also the highest price achieved for any work by Van Gogh since 1998.

Soon after, a battle ensued for Claude Monet’s “Nymphéas” of 1905, which finally sold for $54,010,000, the third highest price for a work by the artist at auction. Having remained in the same collection since 1955, the appearance of this little-seen work caused excitement among collectors from across the world and was purchased by an American private collector.

The banner sales of Impressionist and Modern art in the evening session totaled  $368.3 million, with Asian collectors contributing more than 30 percent of the auction total.

Watch for a complete report of this sale in a future issue.