NEW YORK.- Christie's evening sale of Latin American Art was a landmark sale, realizing $22,717,400, the highest total ever for an evening sale in the field. The star lot was Alfredo Ramos Martínez's spectacular Flowers of Mexico, a masterly painted and sparkling work which achieved $4,072,000 and more than doubled the previous world auction record for the artist.

"We are absolutely thrilled with the overwhelming success of tonight's sale which was nothing short of historic," said Virgilio Garza, Head of Latin American Art. "Latin American Art has clearly come into its own and is not only sought after by its traditional collectors but also by connoisseurs active in other fields who have detected its importance and key position in the wider framework of Western art."

The star lot of the sale was Flowers of Mexico by Alfredo Ramos Martínez, which realized a staggering $4,072,000 and zealously broke the previous record of $1.8 million which was set at Christie's New York in November 2006. This places Alfredo Ramos Martínez second only to Frida Kahlo and above such key figures in Latin American art as Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo and Fernando Botero in terms of auction value. The Lonesome Indian, 1933, another work by the artist, fetched $1,104,000. The superb results of both paintings show that the demand and market for the works which Ramos Martínez created while living in California have been propelled to another price level altogether.

The sale, which was 92% sold by value, performed extraordinarily well for all movements, epochs and artists, and established eighteen new world auction records.

The Latin American Sale continues tomorrow at 10 a.m.