A painting featuring a large pink baby with pictures of Communist luminaries, “Chapter of a New Century — Birth of the People’s Republic of China,” surged past its high estimate of $2.5 million to fetch $3.1 million at the sale of Asian contemporary art at Sotheby’s in New York.

The canvas set a new auction record for artist Zhang Xiaogang, who was born in 1958 in China.

Sotheby’s took $38.4 million during its record-setting if sparsely attended sale of 275 lots yesterday. The results represent a 51.6 percent increase from the auction house’s similar sale six months ago.

The auctioneer frequently switched between English and Chinese to accommodate a large number of Asian clients in the salesroom and calling over the phone lines.

Among the top 10 lots, eight were acquired by private Asian collectors, Sotheby’s said.

Posted: 09|22|07 at 9:36 am. Filed under: US News.