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Art as commodity - Fall 2006 NYC Contemporary Art Auctions: Christie's Fall auction of Contemporary Art included Andy Warhol's painting 'Mao' (1972) which was acquired by the Hong Kong collector Joseph Lau for $17 million, the highest price ever paid for a work by Warhol. The international art market is experiencing a staggering growth period: the combined sales of Christie's and Sotheby's in New York of contemporary, impressionist and modern art totaled around $1.3 billion, surpassing records set during the early 1990ies before the the art market crashed. New York City, November 15, 2006. (KEYSTONE/CAVAN IMAGES/Katja Heinemann)