Berthe Morisot, 'Après le déjeuner,' 1881. (Courtesy Christie's)

At Wednesday's Impressionist and Modern evening sale at Christie's London, a new world record was set for a female artist at auction, with Berthe Morisot's 1881 Après le déjeuner selling for £6,985,250 ($10,980,813).

Morisot narrowly surpassed the previous overall record for a female artist, Natalia Goncharova's Les fleurs, which sold at Christie's in 2008 for £5,529,250 ($10,870,506). The record price for a contemporary female artist was also set at Christie's in 2012, when Spider (1911-2010) by Louise Bourgeois sold for $10.7 million.

Last night's sale totaled £136,462,100 ($213,426,725). The top lot was Jeanne Hébuterne (au chapeau) by Amedeo Modigliani, which went for £26,921,250 ($42,104,835).