ART

A painting by Marc Chagall was auctioned Sunday in Tel Aviv for $858,000--almost twice as much as expected, Sotheby’s auctioneers said. “Flowers,” which the late Russian-born artist painted in 1973, was sold to an anonymous bidder from the United States. The previous owner’s name also was not disclosed. “We are extremely pleased,” Daniella Luxembourg, director of Sotheby’s in Israel, said. The painting was sold along with a collection of rare Jewish books, manuscripts and works of art in the first such auction of its kind in Israel, a Sotheby’s spokesman said.