At £2.93 million, "Execution" by Yue Minjun set a record for any Chinese contemporary work sold at auction (Sotheby's)

The contemporary art market is roaring ahead. Throughout two major auctions held here at Sotheby's on Friday and at Christie's on Sunday, the bidders' enthusiasm continued unabated as if they had never heard of the subprime market crisis or the sagging housing prices in the United States.

At Sotheby's 57 works of the 68 that were offered added up to £34.86 million, or $70.69 million. Two days later, Christie's sold 69 of the 81 works included for an aggregate £31.96 million. To this may be added the £7.88 million fetched by contemporary design furniture and objects that the management had thrown in for good measure.

Lire l'article de Souren Melikian http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/15/arts/melik16.php?WT.mc_id=rssarts