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The French data service reports that 4,614 artist records were achieved at auction, up from 3,920 in the first six months of 2004.

Constantin Brancusi's Bird in Space, sold at Christie's New York, marked the highest record achieved so far in 2005 at $24.5 million, followed by the auctioneer's sale of Edward Hopper's Chair Car for $12.5 million, according to the report.

Next on the list were Chaim Soutine, Kees van Dongen and Francis Bacon, artists with auction records set this year of almost $8 million each, ArtPrice announced.

Prices, Bloomberg writes, have been "driven up by collectors ranging from Eli Broad's Broad Art Foundation in Santa Monica, California, to financial professionals seeking alternative investments."

The Brancusi sculpture, for instance, was purchased not by a gallery, but by Leon Black, a principal of New York-based firm Apollo Management LP, according to the report.

Overall, Pablo Picasso leads the list of all-time highest auction prices after his Garçon a la Pipe sold last year for $104.2 million, ArtPrice reports. Monet dropped from second to sixth place, as Andy Warhol slid behind Picasso when his Liz sold to a London jeweler for $12.6 million.

"New entrants to the top 10 best sellers," Bloomberg writes, "include Lucian Freud, Max Beckmann, Brancusi and Van Dongen, whose works all set records this year."

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Bloomberg: "Brancusi, Hopper, Top List of Artists' Records, Artprice Says"
Images Courtesy of Christie's, New York.