Francis Bacon, Portrait of Henrietta Moraes (1963). All images via Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

Over the past two days, the evening Post-War and Contemporary Art auctions held by Christie’s and Sotheby’s have demonstrated investors’ continuing interest in the art market. On Tuesday, Christie’s total sales crept up to $126.5 million—just short of their high estimate of $131.9 million. Sotheby’s was farther behind in overall total, but overshot their high estimate of $75.3 million with a total sales $79.5 million, including fees. London-based art adviser Wendy Goldsmith said, “We expected fireworks, and we got it,”  in an interview with Bloomberg News. (more…)