Liz and Ali go head to head at star-studded New York auction

Actor Hugh Grant is $17m wealthier today after Christie's successfully sold his Andy Warhol portrait of Elizabeth Taylor in a glittery New York sale that defied widespread predictions of an art market crash. The actor, who is in New York, but did not attend the sale, bought the picture in 2001 for just $3.6m and sold it last night for $23.6m, including the Christie's commission.

However, given that it fell outside the pre-sale estimate of £25m-$30m, it was considered a bit of a flop on an evening that saw a remarkable 17 records broken for contemporary art.

With Sarah Jessica Parker and Marc Jacobs among the audience, Lucien Freud exceeded his record price by $4m when competitive bidding pushed a portrait of one his daughters and her husband from 1992 to just over $19m.

A blood-red Richard Prince from his 2002 Nurse series of paintings was won by the London dealer Jay Jopling, who paid over $6m - tripling the artist's previous record. A 1955 blue-and-orange canvas by Mark Rothko sold for $34.2m, shattering his previous record.

As reported exclusively on The First Post earlier this month, Hugh Grant's Liz is considered to be a clumsy example of Warhol's famous series of the actress. In order to get Grant's business, Christie's had guaranteed the actor $20m in case it did not meet its reserve. In the event, bidding for the picture was brief and slow, and included Alberto Mugrabi, a New York dealer in whose interest it is to keep up Warhol prices because he owns several hundred examples.

More exciting was the bidding for another Warhol - a portrait of Muhammed Ali given to the boxer by the artist. Bidding went from $2m, past its high estimate of $3m and up to $9.25m, including commission.

Auctioneer Christopher Burge described the evening, which brought in a total of $325m, midway between the pre-sale estimates of $271m to $373m, as "extraordinary." Most important, he noted that half the buyers were from the US, dispelling fears that the sub-prime mortgage crisis would push American collectors out of the game.

Dealers expressed surprise. "Two weeks ago, collectors were all doom and gloom," said one. "About five days ago, they were all eager to buy again. It's quite bizarre." ·