Two trends emerged in this weeks art auctions that are a reflection of the luxury buyer: Firstly, the bulk of ‘big-bucks-buyers’ were from foreign lands (obviously using foreign currencies to capitalize on the weak dollar). The reality is the big new money is being made in many countries besides the USA. The second trend is a flight to safety: the big ticket buyers wanted safety and focused their attention on the most obvious, safe-bet buys.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the contemporary-art market’s fizz these days has been largely driven by sales of Pop classics by Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and others. Pop’s cheery colors and reassuringly familiar objects such as crumbly pies and red lobsters appeal to jet-setting bidders who want to buy art again but aren’t ready to stretch for edgy unknowns.

Overall, Sotheby’s Pop works helped boost its $222.4 million total above the house’s own $214.4 million high expectations. Sotheby’s helped financier Ron Perelman sell Lichtenstein’s “Still Life with Lobster” from 1972 to a European telephone bidder for $5.9 million, over its $5 million low estimate. Lichtenstein’s frothy blue “Ice Cream Soda” from 1962 also sold for $14 million, just over its $12 million low estimate.

Collectors seemed chipper as well, with real-estate developer Aby Rosen packing into the auction house’s Manhattan salesroom alongside former super-agent Michael Ovitz; newsprint magnate Peter Brant and his wife, model Stephanie Seymour; and designer Valentino Garavani, who won an untitled Joan Mitchell abstract for $2.2 million.

But the sale relied heavily on faraway collectors to pick up its priciest pieces, including examples by boom-era favorites Mark Rothko and Francis Bacon. An Asian telephone bidder paid $22.4 million for a lemony, untitled Rothko from 1955 that was being sold by architect Graham Gund. Sotheby’s London-based expert Oliver Barker also fielded the $14 million winning telephone bid for Bacon’s orange-and-blue “Figure in Movement,” which was priced to sell for up to $10 million with fees. (Sale prices include the auction house’s commission, which estimate prices omit.)

These trends are reflected in the real estate market too, where wealthy foreign buyers are fueling a notable rise in activity, buying the best quality properties around the city. Luxuryletter reported strong activity in the month of October.