A member of the media films a painting by Vincent van Gogh "L'Allee Des Alyscamps" during a press preview on May 1, 2015. (Agence France-Presse)
A Vincent Van Gogh painting fetched more than $66 million at a New York auction on Tuesday, the most paid for a work by the Dutch post-impressionist artist since 1998.
According to the Sotheby's auction firm, Van Gogh's "Les Alyscamps," which depicts a stand of autumnal trees, had been expected to go for around $40 million but ultimately an Asian collector paid $66.3 million after an intense bidding war between five potential buyers.
Also reaching the pricing stratosphere was a "Water Lilies" painting by French impressionist Claude Monet, which sold for $54 million, smashing Sotheby's valuation of between $30 million and $45 million.
The most ever paid for a Van Gogh was in 1990 when his "Portrait of Dr Gachet" sold for $82.5 million in New York. Adjusted to today's money, that's about $153 million.
Tuesday's sale of impressionist and contemporary works marks the start of auction season in the Big Apple.
Pablo Picasso's colorful "The Women of Algiers (Version 0)," depicting a scene from a harem, will be up for grabs when Christie's puts it on the auction block May 11.
The artwork has been valued at $140 million.
The world record for a painting sold at auction is $142.4 million for Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," which was snapped up in New York in 2013.