Works by contemporary British artist Damien Hirst sold directly at auction fetched a total of 70 million pounds (120 million dollars) at Sotheby's Monday in London, the auction house said.
Highlight among the works snapped up by bidders from around the world was The Golden Calf, a bullock preserved in formaldehyde with a golden disc on its head and hooves and horns cast in 18-carat solid gold, which fetched 10.3 million pounds, the dpa reported.
Hirst, 43, has said he wants to prove in the two-day groundbreaking auction that artists can sell their work without galleries and middlemen taking a 50-per-cent commission.
Judging by the success of the first part of the sale, he will succeed in his ambition, art experts said. Results for the evening already exceeded Sotheby's estimated total of 65 million pounds for the whole of the auction.
The auction, entitled Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, continues Tuesday.