Paul Cézanne’s ‘Les pommes’ which sold for $37m (£24.8m) at Sotheby's in New York.
It was one of 20 works at the auction which came from the estate of collectors Alex and Elisabeth Lewyt which saw strong interest as 17 of them got away for a combined hammer total of $77.8m (£52.2m).
Estimated at $25m-35m, the Cézanne dated from 1889-90 and was pictured on the front cover of the catalogue.
A balanced composition with attractive brushwork and colour tones, it was deemed "one of Cézanne's most perfect still lifes" according to Charles Moffett, the vice chairman of Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern art department.
At the sale on May 7, it drew three interested parties and sold to an anonymous phone bidder at $37m (£24.8m).
Overall, the sale saw 60 of the 71 lots sell for a $199.7m hammer total.
£1 = $1.49
