LONDON -- One of the greatest drawings by Renaissance master Raphael still in private hands sold for 29.7 million pounds ($47.9 million) on Wednesday, an auction record for the artist in sterling terms and double pre-sale expectations.

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A drawing by Italian artist Raphael entitled "Head of an Apostle" is shown at Sotheby's auction house in London last month.

Sotheby's auctioneers had high hopes for the 16th century "Head of an Apostle," a study for Raphael's last painting "Transfiguration" which is on display at the Vatican Museum in Rome.

When the artist died in 1520, his body was laid out in state in his studio with the "Transfiguration" hanging at his head.

Measuring roughly 15 inches by 11 inches (38 cm by 28 cm), the picture drawn in black chalk went on a mini-world tour prior to the London auction in a bid to drum up interest from Asia as well as Europe and North America.

"If you are lucky, at some point in your career a work like this comes along," said Gregory Rubinstein, head of old master drawings at Sotheby's.

"A number of the world's greatest collectors stepped up tonight in recognition of the genius of Raphael and the extraordinary beauty of this drawing with its exceptional provenance."

According to Sotheby's, only two other Raphael drawings of the same calibre have been auctioned in the last 50 years -- in 2009, Raphael's black chalk "Head of a Muse" sold for 29.2 million pounds at Christie's in London.

In dollar terms, that picture narrowly trumped "Head of an Apostle" due to fluctuating exchange rates, but since both were sold in pounds in London, Sotheby's is claiming the crown.

"Head of an Apostle" was from the collection at Chatsworth, the ancestral home of the 12th Duke of Devonshire who is also deputy chairman of Sotheby's. It is expected the proceeds of the sale will go towards the upkeep of the estate.

It was the last lot of the Old Master and British Paintings sale at Sotheby's which raised 58.1 million pounds overall.

The auction had been expected to total 35.6-52.9 million, although hammer prices include buyers' premiums meaning that the final tally was in line with the upper estimate.

The buyer was not identified, but the winning bid went to a member of Sotheby's staff who often represents Russian clients.

The sale extends a string of strong results by leading auction houses in recent months as wealthy collectors, including those from emerging markets like Russia, China and the Middle East, defy broader economic gloom to snap up rare treasures.

Dutch master Jan Steen's interior scene "The Prayer Before the Meal" dated 1660 sold for 5.6 million pounds, or at the lower end of expectations between 5.0 and 7.0 million.

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles confirmed it had acquired "Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies," a 15th century illuminated manuscript from Flanders by Lieven van Lathem which sold for 3.8 million pounds.

There were disappointments on the night, however.

Philip the Good's finely illuminated copy of the drama "Mystere de la Vengeance" dated around 1465 had been expected to fetch 4.0-6.0 million pounds but failed to find a buyer.

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A Monet water lilies painting sold for nearly $43.8 million on Wednesday while a Kandinsky fetched an artist's record $23 million as Christie's kicked off the auction season with a sale that saw many mid-level works failing to find buyers.

"Nympheas," one of Monet's iconic water lilies from 1905, executed during his years at Giverny, had been estimated to sell for $30 million to $50 million, and just managed its middle range with a final price of $43,762,500 including commission.

Wassily Kandinsky's "Studie fur Improvisation 8," meanwhile, hit the low end of its $20 million to $30 million estimate, and set a new auction record for the Russian artist. The vibrant work was being sold by Switzerland's Volkart Foundation.

But 30 percent of the 69 works on offer failed to sell when bids failed to reach the reserve, the secret price at which a client has agreed to sell a work. 

In all the auction took in a total of just under $205 million, missing the low pre-sale estimate of about $210 million (estimates do not include commission charges of about 12 percent). The high estimate was about $315 million. 

Christie's nonetheless said it was pleased with the results. 

Handout / Reuters

Wassily Kandinsky's "Studie fur Improvisation 8."

"It was very, very strong sale, with great results" for top lots including the Monet, and a Brancusi sculpture "Une muse," which sold for $12.4 million, said Brooke Lampley, head of Impressionist and modern art. 

"Classic Impressionism performed really well tonight." 

Lampley also noted that the sale's unusually high percentage of discretionary selling -- when collectors decide to sell, versus estate sales that happen because the owner is deceased -- was "very much a sign that collectors are feeling confident in the market. They are choosing to sell," which she said was a testament to the increasing strength of art as an asset class.

But the atmosphere in the room was muted and for works that sold, bidding was steady but far from unbridled. Bidders tried to cut increments in half from the next solicited bid, and the salesroom was more than half empty before the sale ended.

Officials privately attributed the relatively high percentage of works that failed to sell -- nearly one third -- chiefly to a single collection whose owner was unwilling to lower the reserve prices in the days leading up to the sale. 

In all, six lots sold for more than $10 million each. Other highlights included Miro's "Peinture (Femme, Journal, Chien), which went for $13.75 million, and Picasso's "Buste de femme," and oil on canvas that at $13 million was one of the few works to beat its pre-sale estimate handily. 

Proceeds from the Monet sale will benefit a private prep school in Tarrytown, N.Y., which received the work in a bequest.

Two Giacometti sculptures, "La Jambe" and "Tete sur tige," fetched $11.3 million and $6.8 million respectively.

Among casualties were a Picasso sculpture, "Coq," estimated at $10 million to $15 million, and works by Chagall and Degas, the latter estimated to sell for as much as $10 million. 

The auctions continue on Thursday when Sotheby's holds its sale of Impressionist and modern art, which it postponed from Monday due to Superstorm Sandy which hit the region last week. 

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Potomack Company via AP

This undated image provided by the Potomack Company shows French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Paysage Bords de Seine," which was purchased for $7 at a flea market in West Virginia.

The Renoir painting that caused a sensation when it was bought at a flea market for $7 may have been stolen from a museum six decades ago, and an auction house has put its sale on hold.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting "Paysage Bords de Seine" was due to go to auction through the Potomack Company on Saturday, but its sale was put on hold after a Washington Post reporter discovered documents in the Baltimore Museum of Art's library showing it was on loan there from 1937 until 1951, when it was stolen.

The Impressionist work, whose title translates as "Landscape on the Banks of the Seine," was purchased two years ago at a West Virginia flea market.

The buyer, a Virginia woman who has not revealed her name, took it to auction house The Potomack Co. in July, and experts there confirmed it was by the French master Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The frame of the painting includes a "Renoir" plaque.

"I originally bought it for the frame," the buyer admitted to NBCWashington.com earlier this month. "I was trying to rip it apart... I was like, well, maybe I should wait." The buyer's mother encouraged her to get it appraised.

It was expected to fetch $75,000 to $100,000 at auction. 

"The rest of the auction will go on, but the Renoir has been withdrawn," said Lucie Holland, a spokeswoman for The Potomack Co.

Read the story on NBCWashington.com

Potomack said that the London-based Art Loss Registry had said that the painting had never been reported stolen or missing and the FBI's art theft website did not list it as stolen either. There was also no police report from the theft.

The FBI is now investigating.

'Caught by surprise'
The Renoir came to the Baltimore museum through one of its leading benefactors, collector Saidie May. Her family bought it from the Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris in 1926.

The Washington Post found records in the museum's library on Tuesday that showed May had lent the paintings and other works to the museum in 1937, Potomack said.

After the newspaper told it of the findings, the Baltimore museum checked its files and found a loan record showing the Renoir had been stolen on November 17, 1951. What happened to it after the theft is unknown.

Doreen Bolger, the museum director, said the museum's probe into what happened to the painting was in early stages.

May died in May 1951 and the art collection was willed to the museum. As its ownership was going through legal transfer, the painting was stolen while still listed as on loan.

"We were caught by surprise," Bolger said on Thursday.

"At this point we just want to make sure that the painting winds up where it belongs and that we provide all the information we can to law enforcement about this issue," Bolger said. 

She said that she would be happy to show the painting again if it is ultimately returned to the museum.

NBC News staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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A fairy-tale-inspired art exhibit gives men who consider themselves regular Prince Charmings a chance to kiss real-life sleeping beauties -- that is, if they're ready for a lifelong commitment.

Yes, there's a catch for both the beauties and Charmings that participate in Taras Polataiko's live art installation at the National Art Museum of Ukraine. The women -- the main stars of Polataiko's effort -- are put on display as they "sleep" for three days. The men are then allowed to steal a kiss from one of the snoozers. But before the slumber and kisses, there's an all-important contract.

"Everybody, any viewer, will have to sign the contract, which says, 'If' -- this is very important, because nobody has to -- 'If I kiss the beauty and she opens her eyes while being kissed, I marry her,'" Polataiko recently told The Telegraph.

Likewise, according to a press release for the exhibit, the beauties sign a form that states, "If I open my eyes while being kissed, I agree to marry the kisser."  

While Polataiko originally feared that no viewer-suitors would participate, there's been no shortage so far. And some brave would-be princes have even risked a wake-up with a smooch.

"I wanted to feel that girl," one kisser told The Telegraph. "I wanted to feel her with my heart, but I didn't feel anything."

As for the woman he kissed, she's confident the art effort doubles as an earnest search for love.

"If it's my true love, I will feel it on an intuitive level," she explained to the paper. "Secondly, if I don't feel it, I won't open my eyes. Anything can happen in life, and suddenly it's fate. What if it's the only way I'll meet my soul mate?"

But now she may be asking herself, "What if it's not?"

"The show will end the moment the Beauty opens her eyes," teased the press release. But that hasn't happened for any of the beauties yet, so the show goes on -- at least until its scheduled end on Sept. 9.

What do you think of the mix of marriage contracts and art? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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An auctioneer takes bids for Edvard Munch's "The Scream" in New York in May 2012. "The Scream's" mystery buyer has been revealed to be Leon Black, an American financier.

U.S. billionaire Leon Black is the mystery buyer who paid a record $120 million for Edvard Munch's masterpiece "The Scream" at Sotheby's in May, the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.

Citing several sources close to Black, a New York businessman and avid art collector, the newspaper said his intentions for the iconic painting and whether it would be loaned to a museum were unclear.

A spokesman for Sotheby's declined to comment on the report. Black could not be reached and his spokesman also declined to comment.

Black, the lead partner of Apollo Global Management and No. 330 on Forbes list of billionaires, sits on the boards of both the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.

A Sotheby executive took the winning bid at the May 2nd sale in New York. It was one of an initial group of seven bidders who drove the price up during a feverish auction.

"The Scream," Munch's masterpiece from 1895 depicting a bald figure with hands pressed to the head and swirling colors in the background, is one of the world's most famous paintings. Three other versions, including two that were stolen and later recovered, are in museums in Norway.

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Samuel Dietz / Getty Images

The film was silent, but the poster roared. When German artist Heinz Schulz-Neudamm created a poster for the Fritz Lang's 1927 German science-fiction dystopian "Metropolis," he probably didn't imagine it would fetch a record $690,000 nearly a century later.

The poster's selling price in 2005 is still a record. And it's slated to set a new one.

Earlier this year the illustration, with its jagged lettering, stoic skyscrapers and blank-faced femme-robot has been appraised at $250,000 in a bankruptcy filing by owner Kenneth Schacter, a collector.

But in March, it went up for sale with an $850,000 list price, and some appraisers estimate it could be the first poster to sell for $1 million.

The painting is centered around an animatronic woman, called the Robot, used by a mad scientist to seduce oppressed workers living in a futuristic city where the wealthy rule from chic, towering buildings. Filmed during the pre-Nazi period of the Weimar Republic, "Metropolis" was written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou.

Poster dealer Sean Linkenback told the Guardian that Schulz-Neudamm's poster is "the crown jewel of the poster world."

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Andy Rain / EPA

A staff member at Christie's auction house staff looks over Pablo Picasso's painting "Femme au chien."

Belgian artist Rene Magritte was the star of the night at Christie's auction of impressionist and modern art in London late on Wednesday, underlining the strong appetite for surrealist art among collectors.

While not the top lot in terms of value, Magritte's "Les jours gigantesques" painted in 1928 fetched 7.2 million pounds ($11.3 million), several times its pre-sale estimate of 800,000-1.5 million pounds and the second highest price for the artist at auction.

Christie's, the world's largest auctioneer, said the depiction of a woman and her attacker sparked a "fierce" bidding war between 10 people. The New York Times reported that the buyer was New York financier Wilbur Ross.

The most expensive work of the sale was Pablo Picasso's "Femme assise" (1949) which fetched 8.6 million pounds compared to expectations of 5.0-7.5 million.

Pre-sale estimates do not include buyer's premium, but final prices do. The commission to Christie's is 12 percent on everything above 500,000 pounds. 

Another Picasso, "Femme au chien" (1962), raised 7.0 million pounds, towards the lower end of its pre-sale estimate, and Paul Signac's "La Corne d'or. Les Minarets," painted in 1907, sold for 6.2 million pounds. 

One of the star lots of the night, a female nude by Pierre-Auguste Renoir entitled "Baigneuse", was withdrawn from the auction after a private deal was struck. It had been expected to raise 12-18 million pounds. 

Overall the auction raised 92.5 million pounds ($145.5 million), compared with pre-sale expectations of 86.5-126.7 million. 

While the final total falls short of the low estimate when commission is taken into account, the inclusion of the Renoir could well have lifted the sale to fall comfortably within range. Of the 70 lots on offer, 14 failed to sell. 

On Tuesday, Christie's rival Sotheby's raised 75.0 million pounds at its equivalent auction, at the low end of expectations. Despite setting a new auction record for Joan Miro of 23.6 million pounds, the sale elsewhere was lackluster.

The two sales kick off three weeks of major auctions in London where up to $1 billion of art is on offer.

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Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images

Joan Miro's "Peinture (Etolie Bleue), 1927" sold at Sotheby's for $36,946,396.

Sotheby's set a new auction record for Spanish artist Joan Miro on Tuesday when his 1927 painting "Peinture (Etoile Bleue)" fetched $36.9 million, but elsewhere the sale failed to meet expectations.

Overall, the auctioneer raised $117.7 million at its impressionist and modern art evening sale in London, just beating the low estimate of $114.9 million but falling short when buyer's premium is taken into account.

The auction was the first in a busy season of sales of fine art in London which, if the highest expectations are met, could raise up to $1 billion.

But it painted an uncertain picture, with the New York Times describing proceedings on the night as "lackluster" and "bumpy."

Confidence in the art market has been sky high in 2012 despite broader economic concerns, with emerging collectors from Russia, China and the Middle East helping push values to record highs as they seek to snap up the most coveted works.

On offer at Sotheby's was one of Miro's most important paintings, and the previous auction record for the artist of $26.4 million was comfortably eclipsed.

"His works from this period are supremely modern, timeless and of great universal appeal, making this precisely the type of painting that today's international collectors are prepared to lock horns over, as they did this evening," said Helena Newman, head of Sotheby's impressionist and modern art in Europe.

The next highest price went to Pablo Picasso's "Homme Assis" which sold for $9.8 million, again just above the low estimate but falling short after the buyer's premium is subtracted.

A Henry Moore sculpture, "Mother and Child With Apple", was one of the few star performers on a night when 15 of the 48 lots on offer went unsold. It raised $5.8 million, well above pre-sale expectations of $2.8 million - $4.4 million.

The London summer sales continue on Wednesday with the equivalent sale at Sotheby's rival Christie's. There, the 71 lots on offer are expected to raise between $136.1 million and $199.3 million.

What do you think about this record sale? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — An unemployed Ohioan was browsing at his local thrift store for items he could restore and resell when he spotted a Picasso poster with the word “Exposition” written across the front, some French words, and the image of a warped round face. He handed over $14.14 for what he saw as a nice commercial print.

Some Internet searches later — and a closer look at markings on the lower right area — and he sold what’s believed to be a signed Picasso print for $7,000 to a private buyer who wants to remain anonymous.

“A pretty darn good return,” said Zachary Bodish of Columbus with a chuckle. “Can’t get that at the bank.”

The 46-year-old Bodish, who was an event and volunteer coordinator at a local museum for six years, originally turned to the Internet and a personal blog to write about his neat find from early March. Bodish had lately been supplementing his income with buying and reselling restored furniture, and he suddenly realized he may have hit jackpot.

“I could tell it was not a modern print,” he said. “So I thought, ‘Well, it’s probably not really a fine Picasso print. What’s the chance of finding that in a thrift store in Columbus, Ohio?”

His online search led him to the print’s history as an exhibition advertisement. And he began to look closely at some very faded red writing on the lower right area, which he originally thought were random pencil marks from the thrift store.

“It wasn’t until I realized where the signature would be, and that those little red marks were right where the signature should be, that I got a stronger magnifying glass out and determined that, ‘Holy cow! It’s really a Picasso.’”

Bodish said he consulted with art experts and met with a representative from Christie’s auction house to authenticate the piece. A Christie’s representative confirmed that Bodish met with a specialist, but the auction house said its policy is not to comment on items that aren’t sold through them. In this case, Bodish decided to sell the print privately in April.

Lisa Florman, an associate history professor at Ohio State University, has written several essays and a book on Picasso. She said the print is a linocut, meaning it’s a design carved out and pressed with ink onto paper. She examined the print only through photos, but she said it’s very unlikely the piece is forged because the piece would sell for so low in the grand scheme of major art fraud. She said she’s examined many forged Picasso signatures in the past, but felt confident about Bodish’s print.

Florman said Picasso designed the print to advertise a 1958 Easter exhibition of his ceramic work in Vallauris, France. She said the artist did these prints for several years, and it’s hard to tell how many are around today. There were 100 prints made for the ceramics exhibition, and Picasso signed them all.

But Florman said Bodish’s print, which is marked as number six, is valuable for being in the artist’s proof range. That means it’s possibly one of only a handful he personally reviewed before they were mass produced.

“Any of the 100 are considered original prints,” she said. “There’s certainly some collectors who really place a premium on a single-digit number because it indicates the artist’s greater involvement with the actual printing, so those particular prints can fetch a higher price.”

Florman said Picasso signed so many prints, it’s very plausible the piece ended up at a thrift store in the Midwest.

“It’s kind of a fun story,” she said. “There’s nothing about it that seems fishy.”

Ed Zettler, a 72-year-old retired English teacher from Columbus, claims the print sat in his basement for years before he decided to donate it to the thrift store where Bodish later found it. Zettler, who said it was a housewarming present given to him by a friend in the 1960s, has no hard feelings about what happened.

“I gave it away. Someone else found it. He fortunately saw more. It’s his,” Zettler said. “That’s the risk you take when you bring something to the thrift store.”

Bodish said he plans to use the money for day-to-day bills, including his mortgage, utilities, food and even more quirky purchases at thrift stores and garage sales.

“It’s just been a rough struggle to make ends meet,” he said. “I may have been fated to find it.”

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"Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade died of accidental acute intoxication from alcohol and an anti-anxiety medication, according to autopsy report made public on Monday by local NBC Bay Area TV.

The Santa Clara County Coroner's Office reported Kinkade's cause of death as "acute ethanol and Diazepam intoxication" and manner of death as "accident," according to the NBC station. Diazepam is the active ingredient in Valium.

A Santa Clara County Coroner's investigator confirmed to Reuters that the autopsy report on Kinkade had been completed but said he could not release it after business hours.

Kinkade, the self-proclaimed "Painter of Light," whose works captivated millions of Americans despite the scorn of many art critics, died in April at his home in Northern California at the age of 54.

His brother told the San Jose Mercury News newspaper that the painter had battled alcoholism for several years and suffered a relapse before he died.

Patrick Kinkade said his brother had been burdened in recent years by a separation from his wife, financial troubles and the low opinion of his work by critics.

Thomas Kinkade was arrested for drunk driving in 2010, the same year his company filed for bankruptcy. Art galleries reported a surge in sales of Kinkade's paintings following his death.

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