Apart from dealers buying for clients or inventory, several private collectors were in the room, including a German couple who bought both of the Gerhard Richter entries, a photo-realist oil, Troisdorf from 1985, for £2,113,250 (est. £1.5–2 million); and the smaller-scaled Abstraktes Bild, also in oil from 1992, for £541,250 (est. £500–700,000). The former work last sold at Phillips de Pury & Luxembourg in New York in November 2002 for $3.2 million.

The couple, who declined to reveal their names or precise location, did respond to a question about whether there were other Richters in their collection. “It’s only Richter!” he said.

Like the over-achieving Rana, at least when compared to the reduced estimates of the current market, Anish Kapoor’s early and authoritative stainless steel sculpture Untitled, from 1996, turned in an impressive result, selling to a buyer in the room for £982,050 (est. £500–700,000).

The same buyer also snared Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Visitatrice con Catalogo, a painted tissue-paper collage on stainless steel from 1969, for £241,250 (est. £250–350,000). The work last sold at Sotheby’s London in October 2000 for £48,800.

“There were low prices and high quality,” said New York dealer Per Skarstedt. “So I guess you can sell even in this market.”

Judd Tully is Editor at Large of Art+Auction.