Top 10 Auction Sales of 2016: Christie's and Sotheby's

In 2016, Christie's and Sotheby's held major auctions featuring record-breaking sales. Claude Monet's "Meule" sold for $81.4 million at Christie's New York in November, after a 14-minute bidding war. Willem de Kooning's "Untitled XXV" fetched $66.3 million at Christie's New York in November, contested by two phone bidders. Pablo Picasso's "Femme assise" achieved $63.6 million at Sotheby's London in June, becoming the most expensive Cubist work ever sold at auction. Peter Paul Rubens' "Lot and His Daughters" sold for $58.2 million at Christie's London in July after a 15-minute battle. Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Untitled" (1982) went for $57.3 million at Christie's New York in May to Japanese collector Yusaku Maezawa. Amedeo Modigliani's "Jeanne Hébuterne (Au foulard)" sold for $56.6 million at Sotheby's London in June. Edvard Munch's "Pikene på broen" reached $54.5 million at Sotheby's New York in November. Cy Twombly's "Untitled (New York City)" sold for $36.7 million at Sotheby's New York in May. Francis Bacon's "Two Studies for a Self-Portrait" fetched $35 million at Sotheby's in May. Zhang Daqian's "Peach Blossom Spring" sold for $34.7 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong in April, quadrupling its estimate after over 50 minutes of bidding.