A. ‘We will see a billion dollar work’

(CNN) — When Christie’s launches the latest auction at its New York showroom this evening, gavels will fall. Prices, however, will almost certainly rise … and rise.

For its Post-war Masters and Contemporary Evening Sale, one of this year’s headline art auctions, Christie’s has on offer masterpieces including Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards, Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (712), and Mark Rothko’s Untitled during a night expected to fetch well north of $200 million.

Christie’s estimates that the Richter work will command a price of between $22 and $28 million, the Rothko between $40 and $60 million, and the Bacon triptych around $80 million.

The house has reason to be upbeat with its estimates.

On May 12, during an auction titled “If I Live I’ll See You Tuesday,” buyers from 26 countries splashed out on contemporary works by artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons and Richard Prince.

Christie’s sold $134.6 million of art in an hour.

Speaking to journalists after the show, Christie’s Chief Executive Officer Steven Murphy suggested that buyers from emerging markets are helping keep the market vibrant.

Read full news article here