Spring art auction season has arrived in New York this month.  Earlier this week a Vincent van Gogh painting from 1888 entitled "L'Allée des Alyscamps" was sold to a private collector from Asia for $66.3 million as reported by the Los Angeles Times.  While the sale of van Gogh's painting depicting an outdoor scene with people and trees surpassed Sotheby's estimate of more than $40 million, it did not break the auction record for a van Gogh painting, which was set back in 1990 when the Dutch artist's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" fetched $82.5 million.

Sotheby's auction of Impressionist and Modern Art earlier this week generated a total of $368.3 million in successful bids.

This spring's art auction season in New York will highlight some other highly coveted works, such as Alberto Giacometti's sculpture entitled "L'Homme au doigt" (Pointing Man), which will be up for auction at Christie's on Monday.  The iconic sculpture is estimated to sell for around $130 million.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.