A Record-Breaking Week of Art Auctions in the Culture Capital ; CULTURAL INVESTMENT

Beginning of article

The sense of anticipation was tangible when the auction house Sotheby's opened its major sale of contemporary work in London last night, with figures this week already breaking European records. By the end of a night when more than [pound]45m of art was auctioned - itself a record for any contemporary art sale in Europe - more than [pound]167m worth of art had been sold by the auction house this week.

The top lot in the sale was Peter Doig's White Canoe, which sold to an anonymous bidder in the room for the record price of [pound]5,732,000; more than five times the previous record of [pound]1.28m and a record for a work by a living artist.

For the first time a …