Christie’s Evening sale of Contemporary art in Paris yesterday totaled €25.4m with a third of that value coming from Nicolas de Staël‘s Flowers which made €8.25m against an estimate of €3.5-5.5m. Other outperforming lots were Pierre Soulages‘s Peinture 227 x 306 cm, 2 mars 2009 which was estimated at €1-1.5m but made €2.4m; Kazuo Shiraga‘s Chikakusei Dokukakuryu, €1.87m; a small Joan Mitchell work that made €655k; and a Jean Dubuffet, Partition which hit €895k.

The day sale added another €9.33m to the total.