The November sales at Sotheby's and rival Christie's in New York marked something of a recovery from the low point during the financial crisis erupting last year.
While prices are not yet matching the go-go days of 2007, sales have often met expectations and large sums of money are once again being exchanged for top works.
At the same time, the market remains unstable, leaving major works as likely to sit unsold as to trigger bidding wars.
Wednesday's contemporary and post-war sales at Sotheby's were an unexpected success, pulling in 134.4 million dollars and selling 96 percent -- all but two -- of the 54 lots. Presale estimates were for sales of 97.7 million dollars.
Andy Warhol's "200 One Dollar Bills," a grey and black work showing 200 life-sized images of dollar bills, sold for 43.8 million dollars.
This was far over the pre-sale estimate of eight to 12 million dollars, although never likely to approach the 71.7 million dollar record for the artist.
And a Warhol self-portrait estimated at one to 1.5 million dollars sold for 6.1 million dollars, a fairy tale ending for a work that was hidden away in a cupboard for 42 years by its owner, Cathy Naso -- a one-time secretary at Warhol's famous Factory.
Sotheby's contemporary art director, Tobias Meyer, said the art market was rebounding.
"Bidding was very deep tonight. There is a great desire for great art. Consumer behavior has started to accelerate after May 2009."
But on Tuesday at Christie's, the contemporary and post-war sales picture was decidedly mixed.
The evening's big winner was Peter Doig's Reflection (What Does Your Soul Look Like), from 1996, which sold for 10.2 million dollars, double the pre-sale estimate.
Overall, the sale was respectable, with 85 percent of works being sold and total proceeds of 74.1 million dollars falling within pre-sale estimates.
But there were also high-profile flops, including an unsold Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat's unsold "Brother Sausage," valued at nine-12 million dollars.
The same uneven pattern applied to the impressionist and modern art sales at the start of November.
Sotheby's saw several records broken during an unexpectedly strong 181 million dollars in sales.
These included 13.8 million dollars paid for "Young Arab," by early 20th century Dutch artist Kees Van Dongen. His previous record was 11.1 million dollars.
French painter Andre Derain's "Barques au port de Collioure," from about 1905, went under the hammer for 14 million dollars, smashing the 6.1 million dollar record.
Simon Shaw, head of the impressionist department at Sotheby's, described those performances as "a shot in the arm for the market."
However, the impressionist and modern art sales at Christie's were subdued, with total sales of less than 66 million dollars, below the presale estimate.
Notably there were no bids for a 1943 Picasso, "Tete de femme," estimated at seven to 10 million dollars.
Marc Porter, president of Christie's Americas, said the emphasis was on art seen as a safe investment. "Classic impressionist paintings and sculptures across a range of prices continue to achieve strong results," he said. (AFP)
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