Henri Matisse’s Les Coucous, Tapis Bleu et Rose, changed hands for £31.9m (€37m) – a record in a year that has seen sales of $1m-plus (€704m) works of art plummet.

Sales of art priced at $1m and over has dropped by 55.6% since last year as bidders remain cautious, according to privately owned London auction house Christie's in its half-year results last week.