NEW YORK.- The Important American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture auction took place at Christie's New York with a total sales of $38,184,000. The top work sold was John Singer Sargent’s Mildred Carter, oil on canvas, 1908 that sold to an anonymous buyer for $3,936,000.

“Today saw the return of saleroom exuberance, in which core clients fought for top property against a large number of new buyers. Two top ten lots went to institutions acquiring American art from Christie’s for the first time - and we were delighted with a sale total that far exceeded our highest pre-sale expectations, with four new auction records in the top ten alone,” said Eric Widing, Head of Christie’s American Paintings.

Mary Cassatt’s Antoinette Holding Her Child by Both Hands, oil on canvas, circa 1899 sold for $3,488,000. Albert Bierstadt’s Autumn, oil on canvas sold for $1,920,000. Norman Rockwell’s Lincoln the Railsplitter, oil on canvas, 1965, sold for $1,808,000 to a U.S. museum. Archibald Willard’s The Spirit of ’76, oil on canvas, completed in 1912 sold for $1,472,000 to the Westervelt Warner Museum of American Art, a new world auction record for the artist. Anna Mary Robertson (Grandma) Moses’ Sugaring Off, mixed media on canvas, 1943 sold for $1,360,000, a new world record for the artist. Jacob Lawrence’s Subway Acrobats, tempera on board, 1959 sold for $968,000, a new world auction record for the artist. Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait’s Duck Shooting Over Decoys, oil on canvas, 1854 sold for $856,000, a new auction record for the artist. Marsden Hartley’s Movement, Bermuda, oil on board, 1916 sold for $844,800 to Masterworks Foundation of Bermuda. Edward Willis Redfield’s Spring at Point Pleasant on the Delaware River, oil on canvas, 1926 sold for $744,000.