Sotheby's, the world's second-largest auction house, sold about 46 percent more art this year as U.S., Russian and Asian collectors bid up prices for contemporary artists such as Francis Bacon and Jeff Koons. Sotheby's art auctions in 2007 totaled $5.33 billion, up from $3.66 billion a year earlier, according to preliminary figures on Sotheby's Web site. Contemporary art sales in New York in November more than doubled to $418.3 million, the Web site said. Sotheby's and its larger competitor Christie's International are increasing their dependence on contemporary art after an 11- year quadrupling in values. Many works lost half of their value in five years after the 1990 art-market crash, according to the index-maker Art Market Research. "The contemporary-art market is flooded with liquidity but it won't last forever," said New York art dealer Richard Feigen, whose clients include Paris's Louvre museum. A prolonged decline in the world's stock markets or an unforeseen crisis could reduce the money available to buy art, experts said. Auction volumes, which exceeded $8 billion last year, were at $3.4 billion in 2003, according to Moody's Investors Service, which rates Sotheby's debt. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started following Sotheby's shares this month with a "neutral" rating, saying the company is "operating at near peak sales" after a surge in art values and sales in the past four years. Profit Outlook Industry auction totals, estimated to rise 36 percent this year, may gain 7.5 percent next year, and Sotheby's profit may drop 2 percent, JPMorgan analyst Steven Rees said in a Dec. 14 report. "Lingering financial market volatility may continue to impact overall art market psychology," he said. Sotheby's isn't worried about raising its reliance on contemporary art, spokesman Matthew Weigman said. "Right now, our focus is on supplying demand, so the answer is, No," he said in an e-mail. Christie's said earlier this month that its consignments for February 2008, when the auction houses hold their next big impressionist and contemporary sales in London, were so far running 10 percent to 15 percent higher than last year's. In February 2007, the combined auction totals in London for those sales at Christie's and Sotheby's rose 49 percent. Date Change Sotheby's said on Dec. 21 that it would delay its London contemporary sales from the early part of February, when Christie's holds its auctions, until the 28th and the 29th. The idea was to create a "a stand-alone week of contemporary art events," the auction house said in a statement. "We have no plans to change the Feb. 6-7 dates of our London contemporary sales, which we and our clients are looking forward to with great anticipation," said Christie's spokesman Toby Usnik. To swell its auctions this year, Sotheby's stepped up promises of minimum prices to art sellers. Wall Street losses on subprime mortgages had increased the risk of a decline in values for artworks. About 78 percent of the value of a Nov. 14 contemporary art sale was guaranteed, up from 35 percent a year earlier, according to analyst Kristine Koerber of San Francisco's JMP Securities. The bets paid off on contemporary art, and cost money on earlier impressionist works. Bacon's Bullfight Sotheby's big winner in November was U.K. artist Bacon's bullfight picture, estimated at more than $35 million and guaranteed by the auction house. It sold for $46 million including fees to private dealer Philippe Segalot on Nov. 14. The year's big loser was Vincent van Gogh's "The Fields (Wheat Fields)," valued by Sotheby's at $28 million to $35 million. It received no bids at a Nov. 7 impressionist auction and didn't sell. Sotheby's stock plunged 35 percent over three days as it took a $14.6 million loss on guaranteed impressionist works that sold below their estimates. For all of 2006, Sotheby's and Christie's had auctions totaling about $8.4 billion, up 36 percent from the previous year. Christie's took $4.7 billion of the combined total as it sold more expensive paintings by Gustav Klimt and other artists. Christie's auction totals for 2007 will be available in the first half of January, Usnik said. Sotheby's, with its main salerooms in New York, is incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Christie's, owned by the French billionaire Francois Pinault, is based in London.