Sotheby's and Christie's, the two main art auction houses, together sold a record $12.5bn in artworks last year, a rise of more than 40 per cent as the art market showed no sign of slowing.

Both groups said they expected to set more records at the next big auctions, the February Impressionist and Modern sales in London. Christie's has said it expects its sales there to be about $560m, almost 40 per cent higher than last year.