July 13 (Bloomberg) -- Christie's International, the world's largest art seller, said auctions and private sales rose almost 30 percent on premium prices for Warhols and an influx of new buyers.

London-based Christie's sold 1.61 billion pounds ($3.27 billion) of art and collectibles in the first half, compared with 1.24 billion pounds a year earlier, according to a statement to be released today. Contemporary auctions more than doubled to 459 million pounds, including an Andy Warhol car-crash picture that took $71.7 million in New York.

``The most blistering growth is reserved for contemporary art and the king is Warhol,'' Marc Porter, president of Christie's Americas division, said in an e-mailed message. ``In every time of great wealth creation -- whether from railroads or hedge funds --there is one field that captures most of the market interest.''

Christie's and Sotheby's, the No.2 auction house, are riding a 10-year boom in contemporary art prices and an expansion of sales in Russia, Asia and the Middle East. Casino magnate Stanley Ho bought an imperial throne in Hong Kong, and Dubai sales attracted buyers from 19 countries, Christie's said.

Growth

Private transactions of 82 million pounds are included in Christie's first-half results. An additional 23.6 million pounds of sales at London's Haunch of Venison gallery, which Christie's bought in February, would push sales growth to 32 percent and the total to 1.63 billion pounds, the auction house said.

Publicly traded Sotheby's grew even faster in the first six months. Auctions rose 41 percent, to $2.76 billion, according to preliminary figures on Sotheby's Web site. Sotheby's, which has its main salerooms in New York, is due to report second-quarter and first-half profit early in August.

Christie's, which is owned by the French billionaire Francois Pinault, doesn't report revenue or profit, though it releases auction totals twice a year.

Consignments for Christie's November sales, including Warhols, Rothkos and Hirsts, already amount to ``several hundred million dollars,'' Chief Executive Officer Edward Dolman said in a June 27 telephone interview.

Asian auctions exceeded those in France, once the third- largest market, by 44 percent. Two big sales seasons in London pushed U.K. totals in the first half to 630 million pounds, compared with 635 million pounds in the U.S., though second-half growth has usually been stronger in the Americas, Dolman said last month.

Modern Art

Contemporary art, whose collectors range from Pinault and hedge fund manager Steven Cohen to Hong Kong's Joseph Lau, outsold earlier works.

Impressionist and modern art sales rose 28 percent, to 435 million pounds, including a Claude Monet painting of Waterloo Bridge that took 17.9 million pounds in London last month.

Asian art sales worldwide were up 39 percent, to 147 million pounds, followed by jewelry and watches, which totaled 105 million pounds.

Christie's, which held its first sale in London in 1766 under founder James Christie, was taken private by Pinault in 1998. With 14 salerooms and 85 offices in 43 countries, it sells 80 categories of art and collectibles, from wine and vintage cars to fashion. Prices range from $200 to more than $80 million.

Christie's started including private sales in its auction totals last year and couldn't immediately provide a separate number comparable with Sotheby's, said Toby Usnik, a spokesman. Auction totals include buyers' commissions.

Online

Online bidding at Christie's totaled $78.1 million in the past 12 months, the auction house said in a separate statement yesterday. Successful bidders bought $25.1 million of art and collectibles in 377 sales that were opened to online purchases, said Christie's, which plans to expand the service, started a year ago.

Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas introduced Internet sales in 1996 and they now account for as much as 40 percent of auctions and private sales totaling $613.6 million in the past 12 months, said Chief Executive Officer Steve Ivy, in an e-mail. Sotheby's said it had no plans to introduce online bidding.

To contact the reporter on this story: Linda Sandler in London at lsandler@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 13, 2007 03:11 EDT