Sotheby's London contemporary auction, paintings by Andy Warhol and Franz Gertsch wall. Auctioneer Tobias Meyer at rostrum.

By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views, Contributor

A protracted recession, banner-waving protesters and even health concerns failed to stymie a Sotheby’s contemporary art sale held last night in London. The unusually eventful proceedings achieved a robust $71.1 million (£44.4 million).

The total, combined with last week’s “white glove” sale, (found here) brings the month’s contemporary art tally to $138.7 million (£88 million) -  the highest for a Sotheby’s London contemporary art sales series since the downturn in July 2008.

The auctions revealed buyers are back, with 91.5% of the 59 lots finding buyers. Bidders came from around the globe, with 23 works selling for over $1 million, according to Sotheby’s.

The evening’s top lot was Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (1990), sold to an Asian telephone bidder for $11.5 million, according to reports. The monumental squeegeed canvas, dripping with deep reds, greens, and grays, was estimated to sell for £5 – 7 million ($7.7 – 10.8 million).

Chinese activist artist Ai Weiwei’s mini-mountain of ceramic seeds (a larger version can be found at the Tate Modern (found here) sold for $559,394 (£349,250) to an anonymous telephone bidder. Sunflower Seeds consists of 100,000 hand-painted pieces, weighing 220 pounds. The seeds have been scrutinized for their possible containment of poisonous ceramic dust and lead.

The enduring appeal of auction ace, Andy Warhol, was once again evident. Nine Multicoloured Marilyns, a psychedelic silkscreen of the iconic actress and part of Warhol’s important readymade Reversals series, sold for $5.1 million (£3.1 million).

Directly before the Marilyn lot, a group of demonstrators, protesting U.K. government plans to cut arts programming, scattered counterfeit £50 notes and unfurled a banner emblazoned “Orgy of the Rich,” according to salesroom reports. They were escorted to the door.

Sales continue tomorrow with Christie’s Post-War and Modern auction.

The Top Ten:

Title / Artist / Year / Price / Estimate / Buyer (according to auction house)

1. Abstraktes Bild by Gerhard Richter, 1990 $11.5 million (est. £5 – 7 million) Anonymous
2. Nine Multicoloured Marilyns (Reversal Series) by Andy Warhol, 1979/1986 $5.1 million (est. £2 – 3 million) Anonymous
3. Conversation Piece by Juan Munoz, 1993 $4.9 million (est. £600,000 – 800,000) Private European
4. Rule by Robert Ryman, 1991 $3 million (est. £900,000 – 1.2 million) Private U.S.
5. Luciano I by Franz Gertsch, 1976 $2.4 million (est. £500,000 – 700,000) Private European
6. Hotel L’Arbois, Sainte-Maxime, 1968 $2.13 million (est. £1 – 1.5 million) Anonymous
7. Concetto Spaziale, Attese by Lucio Fontana, 1968 $2.04 million (est. £800,000 – 1.2 million) Anonymous
Declining Nude by Glenn Brown, 2006 $2.04 million (est. £600,000 – 800,000) Private U.S.
8. Regenbogen (Rainbow) by Gerhard Richter, 1970 $1.5 million (est. £400,000 – 600,000) Anonymous
To the Studios IV by Frank Auerbach, 1983 $1.5 million (est. £900,000 – 1.2 million) Private European
Head of Gerda Boehm II by Frank Auerbach, 1963 $1.5 million (est. £500,000 – 700,000) Anonymous

Gerhard Richter 1990 "Abstraktes Bild." Sold at Sotheby's in London for $11.5 million