Sotheby's summer sale record as art goes on rising

By Mike Collett-White LONDON (Reuters) - Sotheby's held its contemporary art auction on Tuesday, the last in a series of big London sales that raised more than $1 billion and underlined how the world's super-rich are paying up despite the gloomy economic outlook. Sotheby's raised 95 million pounds ($189 million) on Tuesday from its evening contemporary art sale, the highest total for a summer contemporary auction held in Europe and just shy of the overall regional record set in February. Francis Bacon's "Study for Head of George Dyer", a depiction of the artist's lover, fetched $27.4 million, including commission, and Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Untitled (Pecho/Oreja)", owned by Irish rock band U2, sold for $10.1 million. But another Bacon, "Figure Turning", expected to go under the hammer for around $25 million, failed to sell.... [read full story]