Van Gogh's "L'Arlesienne, Madame Ginoux" (1890) sold for US$40.3m (A$52.7m), the was fourth-highest price ever paid for one of his works, and has been in the same family since 1929 when it was bought by wealthy American paediatrician Dr Harry Bakwin.
The painting depicts Marie Ginoux, the owner of a cafe in Arles, the city in southern France where Van Gogh set up a studio. He painted five portraits of Ms Ginous: one was destroyed and three are in museums.
The identity of the buyer is not known, and the sale price was close to its initial valuation of $40m.
However the price paid for Picasso's "Le Repos" (1932), a portrait of the artist's wife, Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova, was far above the initial $20m value given by Christie's, which handled the sales.
According to the online edition of The New York Sun, "Le Repos" was bought by US art dealer Larry Gagosian for US$34.7m (A$45.7m).
The auction results "reflect a strong, solid and successful market -- there were some very high prices but participating collectors remain focused and controlled," said the evenings auctioneer, Christopher Burge, in a statement from Christie's.
The evening's auction netted some 180 million dollars, according to the statement.
Another Picasso painting, "Portrait de Germaine" (1902), was auctioned off for $18.6m (A$24.5m) to the Acquavella Galleries.
Another Picasso painting is set to be auctioned on Wednesday by rival auction house Sotheby's.
"Dora Maar with Cat" (1941), a portrait of one of the artist's lovers that has not been seen in public in more than 40 years, is valued at $50m.