NEW YORK, 9 May 2012 – Tonight at Sotheby’s, the Contemporary Art Evening Sale brought a strong total of $266,591,000, well within the $216/304 million pre-sale estimate and with 81% of lots sold.

Tobias Meyer, this evening’s auctioneer and Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Contemporary Art, said: ‘‘We are thrilled with tonight’s total of $266 million, and especially with the results achieved for our top four lots, which set a record for Roy Lichtenstein, for a single panel by Francis Bacon, one of the strongest prices for Andy Warhol in some time, and a record for Cy Twombly. The top end of the market performed beautifully this evening due to a global demand for masterpieces that is almost unparalleled, and we saw a remarkable depth of bidding between $30-40 million.’’