Flag, a depiction of the Stars and Stripes by Jasper Johns, sold for $28.6 million at Christie's auctioneers in New York, smashing the record for the American artist.
The work, an encaustic and printed paper collage on paper over canvas, led the charge at a big-spending sale of modern and contemporary art that also saw an Andy Warhol go for $18.3 million.
Bidding was breathless at times in Christie's packed mid-town Manhattan premises.
An excited buzz - and some sarcastic whispering - broke out when Christopher Wool's bare-bones enamel-on-aluminum work, consisting entirely of four large blue letters against white to spell FOOL, sold for $5 million, well over double the pre-sale estimate.
"Tonight was a spectacular night," Amy Cappellazzo, deputy chairman for Christie's America, said. "What a night. That was great!"
Of 79 lots auctioned, 74 sold, with three quarters of buyers coming from the US and 21 per cent from Europe, Christie's said. None were from Asia.
Flag, part of an extraordinary collection from the estate of the late thriller writer Michael Crichton, had been estimated to sell for $10 to $15 million.
$7 million opened the sale but fierce bidding saw that figure double within 30 seconds. Applause broke out when the hammer fell at 25.5 million dollars, amounting to a final price of 28,642,500 dollars with commission.
Most of the 31 lots from the Crichton estate beat their pre-auction estimate and often went for well over twice the predicted price. None failed to sell.
The entire collection had been estimated to sell at between $48 and $69 million but raked in $93.3 million. A Picasso oil painting, Femme et fillettes, sold for $6.58 million, although this was one of the rare works not to exceed its pre-sale estimate range.
Other successes from the Crichton collection included Jeff Koons' Vase of Flowers,"estimated at a maximum of $1million and selling for $2.3 million. Mark Tansey's Push/Pull, estimated at up to $1.2 million, went under the hammer for $3.2 million.
Works outside of the Crichton collection included Robert Rauschenberg's two-part Studio Painting selling at $11,058,500, and Anthropometrie Le Buffle, by Yves Klein, which sold for $12.4 million.