Perhaps emboldened by two over $100 million prices for modern masters in the past year, the upper echelon of the art market is seemingly far removed from the global recession. Impressionist, modern and contemporary art sales scheduled over a two-week period in New York City this November may yield a total of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.

If estimates are met or exceeded at the three major auction houses, the sum of these sales will be the highest ever for an auction series, according to the Telegraph.

Record prices are expected for at least a few modern artists, including Lichtenstein and Modigliani, each of whom may soar to $40 million.

At Christie's, Lichtenstein's 1964 comic-style work "Ohhh...Alright..," from the collection of Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn, and once owned by actor Steve Martin, is anticipated to more than double the artist's previous auction record of $16.2 million.

This work, among many others, has a third party guarantee, meaning that a thrid party has agreed to finance the minimum price set by the auction house.

Another bolster to sellers' confidence are the recent snappy sales at European contemporary art fairs. At London’s Frieze Art Fair, reported sales included Damien Hirst’s’ The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths, for £3.5m at White Cube Gallery.

One upcoming star lot is a yellow-and-orange 1955 Mark Rothko at Sotheby's, with a high estimate of $30 million. Lindsay Pollock writes in Bloomberg that the seller is Boston architect Graham Gund and his wife Ann.

A wide selection of rare and iconic Warhols could tip the scales, among them: Christie's has a high estimate of $50 million pinned on a Campbell's soup can; Sotheby's put a $20-$25 million estimate on his Large Coca-Cola painting; and Phillips has a monumental photo-based Elizabeth Taylor painting, expected to bring $40 million.

The Phillips de Pury sale will be watched closely. The auction house has boldly expanded with a flagship showroom at 450 Park Avenue and a new sale model called Carte Blanche. This so-called curated auction was organized by noted art consultant Philippe Segalot, with the inaugural sale featuring significant works by Andy Warhol, Maurizio Cattelan, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cindy Sherman, Takashi Murakami, and others.

View sales schedules and online catalogs:

Phillips de Pury, Sotheby's, Christie's