The total represented the highest amount ever collected at a single art auction, according to Christie’s in New York. Proceeds will be donated to philanthropic causes in accordance with the wishes of Allen, who died in 2018.

Several of the winning bids smashed previous records for individual artists and many exceeded the expected sales prices estimated by Christie’s.

Among the priciest works sold was Pointillist pioneer Georges Seurat’s “Les Poseuses, Ensemble (Petite version)”, an 1888 oil on canvas depicting three nude women. It fetched US$149.2 million including fees, a record for a Seurat piece.

Cezanne’s “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire”, a colourful landscape painted from 1888-1890, sold for US$137.8 million, another record. And a Gustav Klimt 1903 painting, “Birch Forest”, set the high mark for a Klimt work, selling for US$104.6 million.

Other notable sales included the highest price ever for a van Gogh painting: the artist’s “Verger avec cypres” sold for US$117.2 million. Paul Gaugin’s 1899 oil on burlap “Maternite II” fetched US$105.7 million.

Paintings by Georgia O’Keefe, Claude Monet, David Hockney, Andrew Wyeth and Pablo Picasso were also sold, along with sculptures by Alexander Calder and Max Ernst.

A 1905 print of a photograph by Edward Steichen, “The Flatiron”, went for US$11.8 million, a record for a Steichen work and nearly four times Christie’s highest estimate.

Additional pieces from Allen’s collection will be offered at auction today.