The contemporary art market roared past recession woes, floundering worldwide economies, and a contingent of noisy Occupy Wall Street protesters outside Sotheby's on Wednesday to deliver an above-estimate $315.8 million sale (with commissions).

"The sale blew every expectation away," said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby's worldwide head of contemporary art and auctioneer, in Reuters.

The estimate for the postwar and contemporary art evening sale, $192 million to $270 million, was easily surpassed by a strong selection of works, including four Clyfford Still paintings that took in $114.1 million to benefit the artist's new museum in Denver.

Eight works by Gerhard Richter fetched $74 million together, nearly three times the low estimate, led by an abstraction that soared to $20.8 million, about twice the estimate and setting an artist's record.

Women artists also saw their prices ascend, a trend reflected in the Christie's sale earlier in the week. Artist record prices were set for a 1960 Joan Mitchell work at $9,322,500 and for Cady Noland whose "Oozewald," 1989, went to $6,578,500.