LONDON.- Tonight Sotheby’s London Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale was led by Francesco Guardi’s monumental masterpiece Venice, a View of the Rialto Bridge, Looking North, from the Fondamenta del Carbon, which established the highest price of the week of London Old Master Sales when it sold for an astonishing £26,697,250/$42,865,105/ €29,834,146 (est. £15-25 million*). Achieving a record as the 2nd highest price for any Old Master Painting sold at auction, a record for any Venetian view painting at auction**, as well as a record for the artist’s work***, the painting was sought after by two determined bidders and finally sold to an anonymous telephone bidder. Overall the sale achieved a total of £47,640,900/$76,492,229/ €53,238,651 (pre-sale est. £31,110,000-48,120,000), with an average lot value for the works sold of £952,818 million. The sale was 68.5% sold by lot and 91.6% sold by value