Sotheby's was celebrating today after more than £100 million was spent during a night of record-breaking art sales.

The Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale at the auction house's flagship New Bond Street branch saw bidders from all over the world fight it out for some of the world's most treasured works of art.

The top seller was the 1915 Danseuse, a modern masterpiece by Italian Futurist Gino Severini, which was bought by an anonymous collector for £15 million.

The work beat the pre-sale estimate of £10 million, becoming the highest price ever paid for a Futurist work of art and seven times the artist's previous record.

A bronze sculpture from Alberto Giacometti, Trois Hommes Qui Marchent I (1948) made £9,449,250 - double the estimate - while six bidders fought over Pablo Picasso's Tête de Femme (Dora Maar).

A powerful depiction of the artist's mistress and artistic companion, it sold for £7,881,250 - twice the pre-sale estimate.

Another Picasso, Mousquetaire, Buste of 1968, made £5,529,250, while a Claude Monet, La Plage à Trouville of 1870 - a beach scene from a key moment in his early career - made £7,657,250.

Works of art by other seminal artists such as Cézanne and Paul Gauguin also attracted high bids.

Gauguin's Deux Vases de Fleurs et un Eventail of 1885 and Tête de Tahitienne of 1891 both made £2,841,000.

Cézanne's Verre et Poires, widely regarded as one of the artist's greatest works, reached £4,073,250.

Melanie Clore, co- chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art department worldwide, said: "We saw strong, informed bidding from an international pool of buyers.

"Iconic works fresh to the market triumphed, and rewarded us with the highest percentage of lots sold of any Impressionist and Modern Art various owners sale held at Sotheby's in London.

"An exceptional 70 per cent by lot was sold to European buyers, reflecting the strength of this burgeoning market."

There were 25 lots which sold for more than £1 million, with five lots reaching above £5 million.

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