Eleven auction records for artists — six by women — were smashed on Thursday night in two sales at Sotheby’s.

Two blockbuster weeks of marquee evening sales ended in Manhattan on Thursday night with doubleheader Sotheby’s auctions of rising stars and established contemporary names that raised a combined $283.4 million — and smashed 11 records for artists, including six by women.

“The market is stronger than ever,” said the New York dealer David Benrimon, adding, “The Macklowe sale made nearly a billion dollars.” He was referring to Sotheby’s record-breaking $922 million auction of the Macklowe Collection, which concluded on Monday as the S&P Index continued to slide.

Indeed, with Sotheby’s auction of the Macklowe collection and Phillips setting its company record for a public sale on Wednesday night, the top end of the art market still seems to be booming despite the recent slide in stocks, prompted by growing concerns over inflation’s impact and the war in Ukraine.

Last year, global auction sales of paintings by artists under 40 soared to $259.5 million, a 177 percent increase on 2020, according to data provided by Artprice, a French-based auction analytics company.

Eager to jump on this fast-moving bandwagon, Sotheby’s has come up with a new format called “The Now” sales, focusing on works by the most coveted names of the moment.

On paper, this 23-lot offering was meant to be the warm-up act for the main sale of works by established contemporary artists, but with so much attention — and money — being focused on younger names, for many, this was the evening’s main event.

Sotheby’s proudly announced before “The Now” sale that, for the first time, female artists outnumbered men at one of its auctions.

Over all, “The Now” sale raised $72.9 million, with all the works sold and nine artists reaching new highs.

Estimates on the sale of works by more famous contemporary names that followed were routinely higher, but with the financial stakes raised, Sotheby’s, like Christie’s and Phillips, tried to protect its high-profile lots from failure with guaranteed minimum prices pledged by third parties.