Sculpture sets auction record

A 1922 abstract sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, “Bird in Space,” sold for $27.5 million at a Christie’s auction in New York on Wednesday night, the most money ever paid for a sculpture at auction. The previous record was for another Brancusi work, “Danaide,” a 1914 gilt bronze abstract head that fetched $18 million in 2002.

A rare 1921 neoclassical Picasso painting, “Tete et Main de Femme,” sold for $13.4 million. Another sculpture, Alberto Giacometti’s “Femme Leoni,” brought $8.4 million.

In all, Christie’s Impressionist and Modern art auction totaled $142.9 million, close to the high presale estimate and $52 million more than the previous night’s total at rival Sotheby’s.