Record sales at Christie's

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Christie's enjoyed record sales last year as demand for contemporary art rebounded strongly.

The 245-year-old auctioneer sold Pablo Picasso's painting Nude, Green Leaves And Bust for $106.5m at its New York sale room in May, and Roy Lichtenstein's 1964 Pop Art work Ohhh... Alright... for $42.6m in November. The company said it sold 606 works for more than $1m last year, up from 381 in 2009.

Christie's sales rose by 53 per cent to £3.3bn ($5.2bn), boosted by a 147 per cent jump in contemporary art revenues.

The chief executive, Steve Murphy, attributed its success to growing demand from Asian art collectors, particularly in China, and the large number of masterpieces that came to the market.