London’s two biggest auction houses held season-opening sales of impressionist and modern art this week, as keen collectors brushed off the recession to bid for works by the likes of Monet, Klimt and Picasso, raising close to £100m (€113m) in the process.

The auction room at Christie's in St James's Park was overflowing with collectors last night and a flurry of bids from telephones and the floor ensured the privately-owned company sold 83% of paintings on offer, with a total value of £63.4m being raised from 39 lots. Christies had expected to raise between £58m and £85m from the sale of 47 lots.