NEW YORK—The spring auction season opened this evening at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern sale without much evidence of frenzied fireworks. The evening delivered a workmanlike $170,478,000, a sum that sits comfortably between the $159-230 million estimate.

Forty-four of the 59 lots sold, making for a respectable buy-in rate of 25 percent by lot, or 15 percent by value. Thirty-seven of the 54 lots that sold went for over a million dollars, and of those, 12 sold for over five million dollars. The tally lags somewhat behind the $196 million result from May 2010. Still, given the cards they had, Sotheby's should be very happy.

One artist record was set as the Belgian Surrealist Paul Delvaux's sexy and large-scaled "Les Cariatides" (1946) sold to Victoria Gelfand of Gagosian Gallery for $9,042,500 (est. $3-5 million). It crushed the previous mark set by Delvaux's "Le Miroir" (1936), which hauled in $5.2 million at Christie's London in December 1999.

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Of the ten Picasso paintings offered, eight sold for a combined sum of $58.5 million, including the cover and top lot, "Femmes Lisant (Deux Personages)" (1934), which sold to an unidentified Asian buyer in the salesroom for $21,362,500 (est. $25-35 million). Though valiantly promoted as one of the key works from the celebrated Marie-Therese Walter series — with the addition of the muse's sister, Genvieve, in the scene — the rather flat painting found a new home thanks to a low reserve.

Though he didn't pursue it, dealer Larry Gagosian, whose Chelsea gallery is hosting a blockbuster exhibition of Picasso paintings and sculptures from that period, sounded quasi impressed as he exited the salesroom. "They got lucky, I think," he said, "and I'm glad they sold it."

The Asian buyer, bidding on the aisle with a cell phone glued to his ear, found another bargain later in the evening, nabbing Camille Pissarro's "L'Hermitage en Ete, Pontoise," a prime Impressionist work from 1877, for $4,282,500 (est. $4-6 million). It was last offered at Christie's London in December 1999, when it was bought in against a presale estimate of £1.5-2 million.

The evening brought some easy measures of the market's rejuvenated state, as it featured several prominent works that had been bought in back in February 2009 at auction in London, just months after the equities crash of September 2008 spoiled the art market for several seasons. Pierre-Auguste Renoir's pretty "Baigneuses" (ca. 1892), for example, sold to a telephone bidder tonight for $3,442,500 (est. $3-4 million). It had been bought in at Christie's London two years ago for at £1.3 million, shy of its £1.5-2.5 million estimate.

Another interesting moment came when Guy Wildenstein, scion of the great art dealing family and the current subject of intense media attention relating to various lawsuits filed against him in France, coolly bid and acquired one of the best 19th-century works of the sale, nabbing Edouard Manet's "Portrait de Monsieur Brun," an oil-on-paper from 1880 for $5,402,500 (est. $4-6 million).

Getting back to the Picasso horde, a much more dynamic "Femme" from 1930 — a skeletal creature set against an abstract blue background — shot to $7,922,500 (est. $3-5 million), showing off the current ardor for substantial Modernist works. This particular Picasso was one of several offerings from the San Francisco estate of the late Dodie Rosekrans, whose estate also sold Picasso's late and amorous "Couple a La Guitare" (1970), which went to a telephone bidder for $9,602,500 (est. $10-15 million).

Sculpture recorded a few moments of glory. A petite lifetime bronze cast, almost 15 inches high, of Auguste Rodin's muscular "Le Penseur," sold to New York private dealer Guy Bennett for $4,002,500 (est. $1.5-2 million). It last sold at Sotheby's New York in November 2001, shortly after 9/11, for a hammer price (before premium) of $445,750.

But the finest moment for sculpture came with the bidding on the incredibly rare, almost-ten-inch-high "Jeune Tahitienne" (ca. 1893) by Paul Gauguin, in painted tamanu wood, pasted paper and red coral, and shell, sold on what appeared to be a single phone bid for $11,282,500 (est. $10-15 million). The Gauguin carried a so-called irrevocable bid, meaning an anonymous third party, outside of Sotheby's, guaranteed the work at an undisclosed price. The sale smashed the previous mark for a Gauguin sculpture, set when the moon goddess "Hina" sold for $1.5 million at Sotheby's New York in May 1990.

Gauguin had presented it as a gift to the daughter of a close art-critic friend upon his return from Tahiti, and that lucky girl later gave it to a religious order in Toulouse, which put it up at auction in 1961. Remarkably, at that time, the work sold for a mere £11,500.

Though not unique, Alberto Giacometti's regal, twenty-eight-inch-high "Femme debout," a bronze of the ultra-slim nude from a bronze cast dated 1957, sold for $7,362,500 (est. $2-3 million). Larry Gagosian was the underbidder. Not far behind was San Francisco art advisor Steven Platzman, who characterized the market as "really strong," especially for 20th century works. "The more traditional taste has suffered," said Platzman. "It's really a 20th century market."

That viewpoint was affirmed over and over, as Alexij von Jawlensky's Fauve era, color-charged portrait, "Frau mit grunem facher (Woman with a green fan)," in oil on board from 1912, sold to a telephone bidder for $11,282,500 (est. $8-12 million).

Surrealist work also showed off its current brio as Rene Magritte's 1932 painting with a rising air balloon a stationary female torso, "Quand l'Heure Sonnera," sold for $5,962,500 (est. $5-7 million) and "La Condition Humaine" (1935) sold to New York art advisor and curator Todd Levin for $1,022,500 (est. $400-600,000).

Speaking of "the human condition": As the pre-sale crowd headed into Sotheby's York Avenue headquarters, they were greeted by the sight of a large, inflatable rat parked on the sidewalk, along with a chorus of high-decibel whistles from members of New York Local Union DC 9 painters who were protesting non-union work at the company's tony building.

"We've just been made aware that Sotheby's is using non-union help to paint some of their temporary displays," said a gentleman who used the moniker Picket Pete. "This isn't the poorest place in the world you know," he added, as he signaled his compatriots to can the whistling for his sound bite. "We're artists but not necessarily Impressionist artists."

The evening action resumes at Christie's on Wednesday.