A Pop Art canvas by Roy Lichtenstein, I Can See the Whole Room!... and There’s Nobody in It!, smashed the previous world record for the contemporary artist, selling for $43.2 million.

The sale at Christie’s beat the artist’s previous auction record of $42.6 million and led a strong performance across the board. The contemporary art auction reaped a total of $247.6 million, bettering the presale low estimate of $226 million and notching up record prices for 16 artists.

I Can See the Whole Room!... was executed in 1961 with oil and graphite in Lichtenstein’s familiar cartoon style, depicting a stern male face peering out from the canvas through a peephole and featuring the work’s title in a speech bubble.

Bidding started at a heated pace for the star of the even-ing sale in Manhattan, opening at $27 million and hitting $34 million within 15 seconds, before shifting down a gear.

Other big sellers included a 1956 oil work by Mark Rothko, White Cloud, for $18.6 million, and an enormous bronze sculpture of a spider – so big that it was exhibited outside Christie’s, towering over the sidewalk – for $10.7 million.