More than 225 people attended the 10th Annual Monadnock Arts Auction at the Shattuck Golf Club in Jaffrey on Saturday night. “The Allusionist’s Choice,” by internationally recognized artist Jeanne Duval of Jaffrey sold for the highest bid at $13,000.

“We were very excited with the sale and so was the artist,” Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce auction organizer Cyndy Burgess said Monday of Duval’s painting valued at $20,000. “This year, what added to the success — but also the interest and excitement — was having an artist like Jeanne Duval return.”

Duval has been with the auction from the very beginning, Burgess said, but for the past three years was unable to submit her work because of prior commitments to the galleries that represent her.

Three surprise paintings were also a part of Saturday’s event, and included one by Duval called “Fallen Drape” that sold for $3,400 to Stephen Meyers of Jaffrey; “Beach Grass,” an oil painting by William Lutz of Harwichport, Mass., sold for $250; and an untitled painting by Tatiana Yanovskaya-Sink who hails from the Ukraine and now lives in the area sold for $195. Burgess said that Yanovskaya-Sink painted the surprise piece, a still life, at the silent auction held at the Jaffrey Civic Center last week.

“Haven in the Storm,” an oil painting by Mary Iselin of Marlborough received the second highest bid, selling for $3,400.

Of the 45 pieces that were submitted for the live auction, Burgess said that only two were passed over.

“We had several bidding wars,” Burgess said. “It was exhilarating, and the weather was on our side, which hasn’t been the case for a few years now.”

The profits from the auction were still being calculated Monday, Burgess said, adding that this year’s event was “another great success.” A portion of the profits from the auction will be used to support the Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce’s Arts Auction Scholarship for students pursuing a career in the visual arts.

Last year, the highest bid was “Field and Farm, Cotswold,” an oil on linen by John Traynor, which sold for $2,000. The highest bid at the 2009 auction was $5,500 for Duval’s “Two Shells” and in 2008, her work, “September Afternoon,” a landscape oil paining of Mount Monadnock, captured that year’s highest bid at $16,000.

The 2012 silent auction, which kicked-off with an opening reception on Jan. 30, was also a great success, Burgess said. Of the 88 pieces, she said that all but 14 were bid on. In total, about 80 artists were a part of this year’s silent and live auction events.

The auction is one of the largest fundraisers for the Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce and its causes, including support for the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, The Park Theatre in Jaffrey, The Jaffrey Civic Center and the Jaffrey-Rindge School District’s Shakespeare Festival.

More than $10,000 has been designated for the chamber’s arts scholarship.

This article appeared in the Feb. 7, 2012, edition of the Ledger-Transcript.

Correction: This article was updated at 11:20 a.m on Jan. 8, 2012, to remove Becky Newton of Jaffrey's name as the purchaser of "The Allusionist's Choice," as Newton had simply coordinated a bid by phone at the auction. Also, “Haven in the Storm” sold for $3,400, not $4,300. The Ledger-Transcript regrets the errors.