The Economist looks more closely at the extraordinary price achieved for Brazil’s Adriana Varejao:

“Wall with Incisions a la Fontana II” (pictured right) enjoyed a spectacular success at Christie’s. Consigned by a Portuguese collector who bought it from London’s Victoria Miro Gallery in 2002 for £20,000, the painting made £1.1m, the highest price ever paid for an artwork by a living South American woman, driven primarily by Latin American bidding. South American interest in Ms Varejao’s work may also have had the benefit of spilling over into other parts of the sale, encouraging bidding from the region on works by Cindy Sherman and Eduardo Chillida.

The Market Sprawls (Economist)