A vibrant red and blue abstract painting by Gerhard Richter and Andy Warhol's red 1973 portrait of Mao Zedong helped boost Sotheby's contemporary art sale in London to 87.9 million pounds ($146 million) on Feb. 11.

Of 57 lots offered, 47 sold, and the sale's total fell within estimates while climbing 18% percent above last year's total. Bidders from 40 countries competed for both big-name and emerging artists.

“Wand (Wall),” a 1994 canvas by Richter, took top lot status at 17.4 million pounds, above the presale high estimate of 15 million pounds.

Warhol's iconic image of Chairman Mao brought 7.6 million pounds. In 2000, the same work fetched 421,500 pounds at auction.

Part of the artist's series created in response to President Nixon's visit to China in 1972, this image of the Communist leader features red and yellow highlights, the colors of the Cultural Revolution.

Among the emerging artists, a bidding battle ensued for “Two Sides of the Same Coin” by 24-year-old artist Lucien Smith, starting at 20,000 pounds and ending at 224,500 pounds.