A bidding war set a record for a painting by Henri Matisse, marking a strong start to the autumn art auctions and dispelling fears that the American credit crunch might put an end to the art boom.

L’Odalisque, harmonie bleue (1937) fetched the top price at Christie’s Impressionist and Modern sale on Tuesday night, with the hammer coming down at $33.6 million (£16 million) - smashing the artist’s record of $21.7 million.

The painting, portraying one of the artist’s favourite models lounging beside a vase of flowers, was up for auction for the first time.

It was particularly prized for its provenance from the illustrious French art dealer Paul Rosenberg, who acquired it directly from the artist and passed it on to his heirs.

Five bidders drove the price up past the presale estimate of $20 million until only two potential buyers were left, raising each other in $500,000 stages. “At some point I’m going to have to sell,” Christopher Burge, the auctioneer, quipped. He eventually brought down the hammer on a winning bid by an unidentified telephone bidder to a chorus of applause.

The previous auction record for a Matisse painting was $21.7 million for Danseuse dans le fauteuil, sol en Damier (1942) at Sotheby’s in London in June.

Pissarro’s The Four Seasons also broke the artist’s record with a price tag of $14.6 million, as did the $14 million paid for Paul Signac’s Cassis: Cape Canaille, which had been on view at the National Gallery in London.

Records for works on paper were also set for Toulouse-Lautrec, Léger and Giacometti. Modigliani’s Portrait of Oscar Miestchaninoff fell just shy of the artist’s record with a price of $30.84 million. Overall, the Christie’s sale brought in almost $395 million – the second-highest total, although well short of the $487.4 million presale estimate. All but 17 of the 91 lots found buyers, with most meeting or exceeding their estimates.

Despite concerns that the weak dollar and the subprime mortgage crisis would keep American collectors, in particular, out of the market, almost half the buyers were Americans, Christie’s officials said. “What you saw is that when you have great things of quality, people are going to bid regardless,” Guy Bennett, head of Impressionist and Modern Art, said. “The exchange rate issues or subprime issues do not come into play too much.”

Picassos set three of the night’s top ten prices, although a nude expected to fetch more than $10 million failed to sell. Picasso’s Crouching Woman in Turkish Costume (Jacqueline), brought in $30.84 million, Man with a Pipe fetched $16.8 million and Woman’s Head - one of his famed Dora Maar portraits - almost doubled its presale estimate with a price of $16.3 million.

The autumn sales in New York are the first broad test of the art market since the subprime mortgage crisis erupted. They continued last night with Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern sale featuring Gauguin’s Te Poipoi (The Morning), a Tahitian scene estimated at $40-$60 million, and Van Gogh’s The Fields (Wheat-fields), estimated at $28-$35 million.

The sale also included Picasso’s monumental bust Tête de femme (Dora Maar), billed as his finest sculpture to come to auction, with an estimate of $20-$30 million.

And next week . . .

1 Andy Warhol’s Liz (1963), owned by Hugh Grant, estimated at $25-$35 million

2 Francis Bacon’s Second Version of Study for Bullfight No 1 (1969), estimated at more than $35 million

3 Jeff Koons’s Hanging Heart (Magenta and Gold) (1994-2006), estimated at $15-$20 million

4 Andy Warhol’s Portrait of Conrad Black (1981), estimate $150,000-$200,000

5 Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (Electric Chair) (1981-82) estimated at $8-$10 million

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