Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Auction has seen excellent results as Francis Bacon's Three Studies for Self Portrait led a stellar line-up on February 12 in London.

The death of Bacon's closest friend had a profound impact on his work

The auction realised a total of £74.3m ($116.6m), with the Francis Bacon triptych selling within its £10m-15m valuation at £13.7m ($21.5m).

The triptych received much attention from the art world prior to the sale as a fantastic example of Bacon's portraiture, which played a large part in his career. Its role in his oeuvre became prominent after the death of his closest friend, George Dyer, spurred a series of searing self-analyses that would continue for the remainder of the artist's life.

Bacon's Study for Self-Portrait - which shows the artist's head on Lucien Freud's body - sold for £19.2m ($30m) in June 2012. The current record for his work was set at $86.3m in 2008 by Roman Abramovich, who successfully outbid contenders for Triptych 1976.

A striking example from Gerhard Richter's ever-popular Abstraktes Bild series followed, selling at £8.1m ($12.7m).

Richter knocked Damien Hirst off the top spot for living artists, in 2012, with help from Eric Clapton

Gerhard Richter became the world's most valuable living artist in October 2012, after another masterpiece from the series - formerly owned by Eric Clapton - sold for £19.2m ($34.2m) at Sotheby's.

Also selling at Sotheby's last night were two masterpieces from Jean-Michel Basquiat, with strong results expected after the auction record for his work was broken three times in 2012.

However, it appears that this bubble may now have burst, after Untitled (Pecho/Oreja) sold below its £7m low estimate at £6.8m ($10.6m) and a triptych inspired by William Burroughs sold just within its valuation at £4.8m ($7.7m).

Has Basquiat's bubble finally burst?

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