Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- U2 singer Bono, in orange-tinted glasses, kicked off the bidding last night in New York at the AIDS charity auction he backs by singing the Beatles' ``All You Need Is Love.''

The priciest work, a Damien Hirst pill cabinet filled with painted antiretroviral drugs, fetched $6.2 million before fees.

Hirst's cabinet, titled ``Where There's a Will There's a Way,'' brought in more than a sixth of the proceeds at the so- called (Red) auction at Sotheby's, which raised $38.7 million for HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa, beating its top estimate of $29 million. The cabinet's buyer was London's White Cube Gallery, one of Hirst's dealers.

It was St. Valentine's Day in the U.S., and on the red carpet before the auction, Queen Noor of Jordan arrived in a long red dress to be greeted by Bono with rock-royalty kisses to each cheek. Sotheby's chief executive officer, William Ruprecht, wore a red tie. Lisa Dennison, a Sotheby's recruit from the Guggenheim museum, wore a red dress.

Inside, actor Dennis Hopper sat near tennis star John McEnroe. New York real-estate developer Aby Rosen made an appearance. His RFR Holding Corp. agreed in January to sell Sotheby's building back to the auction house for $370 million.

Greenspan's Gloom

The same day that former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. economy is on the verge of its first recession in six years, the seven pieces Hirst gave to the charity brought in about $19 million ($17.4 million before fees), said the British artist's business manager, Frank Dunphy. Mostly made for the sale, they'd been valued by Sotheby's at as much as $13.6 million altogether.

About 75 artists donated works, including Jeff Koons, the world's priciest living artist (Hirst is No. 2) and Richard Prince. Item after item fetched a price far above its top estimate, attracting three or more bidders in the room and on the phones.

Bono bid on a skinny male figure by the U.K. sculptor Antony Gormley, and dropped out as it shot up to $250,000, equal to the top estimate. The model Christy Turlington, wearing a short red dress and long black blazer and stilettos, bought Francesco Clemente's ``Red Flower on Scorched Earth'' for $155,000, up from a high valuation of $70,000.

``When I first saw the catalog, I loved this piece the most,'' Turlington said after the sale. ``It was completely impulsive. I know Francesco.'' The model, who was accompanied by her husband, actor and director Ed Burns, studied art in college and wrote a paper on Hirst 10 years ago, she said.

Banksy's Dust

The lower part of Sotheby's building on Manhattan's East Side was lit in red, with circles of white light traveling across the 10-storied face. Two men handed out leaflets opposing the auction, on grounds that AIDS drugs had negative effects.

A work by London street artist Banksy, showing a woman sweeping dust under a spotted Hirst canvas, set a record for Banksy when it took $1.7 million before fees. The work, titled ``Keep It Spotless'' and also identified as ``(Banksy Defaced Hirst),'' had been valued at no more than $350,000.

Celebrity events aren't good indicators of the health of the art market, said art adviser Thea Westreich. ``It's a sexy auction for Valentine's Day,'' she said.

Her own verdict on the art: It represents a ``not very informed segment of the market.''

Hirst's ``Beautiful RED Spin Painting,'' with a top estimate of $800,000, sold for $1.65 million before fees to a phone bidder. A spotted red Hirst canvas had a high valuation of $1.5 million and went for $2.4 million to London dealer Ivor Braka, who also paid $3 million for a rectangular red Hirst canvas with blue butterflies.

Stipe and Stewart

The celebrations for the auction kicked off Wednesday night with cocktails at Larry Gagosian's Chelsea gallery, followed by dinner at his house. They continued after the auction with a party at Sotheby's, where the crowd included artist Takashi Murakami, entrepreneur Martha Stewart, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, models Helena Christensen and Liya Kebede, newscaster Brian Williams and actress Ziyi Zhang.

Sotheby's charged buyers a reduced commission of 10 percent of the hammer price last night. Contemporary art values have more than quadrupled in 11 years, according to the index-maker Art Market Research.

``All You Need Is Love,'' a red heart 84 inches high and wide with dead butterflies stuck in gloss paint, is one of three made by Hirst's studio. It was valued at $1 million to $1.5 million and fetched $2.2 million from a telephone bidder.

United Nations Fund

The auction proceeds will go, via the United Nations Foundation, to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. With commissions, the sale totaled $42.6 million and was almost 99 percent sold by lot.

Koons's ``Balloon Rabbit Wall Relief (RED),'' a silkscreen on steel, was priced at as much as $1.2 million and took $1.9 million from a phone buyer. The U.S. artist's 3,500-pound ``Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)'' sold for $23.6 million in November, making him the auction world's priciest living artist.

Murakami's ``Red Flower Ball (3-D)'' had a top estimate of $700,000 and sold for $1.5 million. Andreas Gursky's ``Pyongyang IV,'' a photograph of a Korean festival, had a valuation of $300,000 to $400,000 and sold for $1.4 million to a phone bidder. Prices at Gursky's last New York show at Matthew Marks gallery last May started at about $437,000.

There are waiting lists at the galleries for such pieces by Murakami and Gursky, said Oliver Barker, last night's auctioneer, who is Sotheby's senior specialist for contemporary art in London.

Prince's ``Untitled (The Velvets),'' a 120-inch collage of a rock band, sold for $1.6 million to a phone buyer. The top estimate was $900,000.

To contact the reporters on this story: Linda Sandler in New York at lsandler@bloomberg.net; Katya Kazakina in New York at kkazakina@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 15, 2008 18:11 EST