New York - An Impressionist oil painting depicting a chef in his white uniform fetched a tasty US$18 million (S$22 million) on Wednesday, the most ever paid at auction for a work by the artist Chaim Soutine.

Soutine's "Le Petit Patissier" (The Little Pastry Chef), was the highlight of the Christie's auction in New York. It was estimated before the sale to be worth US$16-22 million.

Christie's said Soutine's rosy-cheeked chef, the sixth of a renowned series painted in about 1927, set an auction record for the Russian-born French artist. The previous highest result for any of his works was US$17.2 million in London in 2007.

Marc Chagall's unusual "Three Acrobats" was the second most expensive work at the sale in Manhattan, selling for US$13 million, well over the US$6-9 million estimate.

However, Andre Derain's 1905 "Portrait de Madame Matisse au kimono," estimated at US$15-20 million, notably failed to find a buyer. Christie's had heralded the painting of Matisse's wife is "the most important portrait" ever auctioned by Derain, the co-founder of Fauvism.

There was better news for Egon Schiele's "Selbstbildnis mit Modell (Fragment)," from 1913. It had been estimated at US$5-7 million, but sold for US$11.3 million.

On Tuesday, rival Sotheby's saw a record $15.3 million paid for a version of Rodin's sculpture "The Thinker." It also sold Paul Cezanne's "Les Pommes," a landmark in modern art history, for US$41.6 million.