Ramos Martinez work auctioned for $1.8 million

A painting by Mexican artist Alfredo Ramos Martinez, expected to bring $350,000 to $450,000 in an auction of Latin American art, was sold for $1.8 million Tuesday night at Christie’s New York.

Fetching more than twice the top auction price previously paid for the artist’s work, the colorful scene of two women surrounded by flowers was the star attraction in a $17-million sale that also brought record prices for 10 other artists.

The Ramos Martinez appeared in a Los Angeles exhibition at Louis Stern’s gallery in 1991, when it was sold for less than $100,000 to the unidentified Mexican collector who consigned it to Christie’s.