Bristol-born artist Damien Hirst proclaimed last night that "people would rather put their money into butterflies than banks" after setting a new world record for an auction dedicated to one artist of £111million.

Sotheby's said the total was 10 times the previous record, set in 1993 for 88 works by Picasso.

The Picasso auction totalled $20m but Hirst's auction dwarfed the Spanish painter's, making an equivalent of $200m. The sum includes buyer's premium.

The two-day auction showed some art lovers were still willing to pay out huge sums, despite the current economic gloom.

All but five of the 223 lots sold and bidding was especially competitive for many of Hirst's trademark pieces of animal corpses in tanks of formaldehyde.

One, The Golden Calf, set a record of £10.3m for the sale of a single Hirst at auction.

The Kingdom – a tiger shark which was one of the first pieces under the hammer – sold for £9.5m. Its estimated value was £4m to £6m.

But the sheer number of works for sale may have meant those offered late in the afternoon attracted less interest. The Incredible Journey – a zebra in a tank – barely scraped half its lowest estimate of £2m, selling for little more than £1.1m.

After the sale, Hirst, 43, said: "I'm totally exhausted and amazed that my art is selling while banks are falling. I guess it means that people would rather put their money into butterflies than banks – seems like a better world today to me."

The sale included several works featuring butterflies. Hirst, who has a studio in Chalford, near Stroud in Gloucestershire, lives in Gothic mansion Toddington Manor, also in the county.

He bought the Grade-I listed building near Tewkesbury with 124 acres for £3m in 2005 to showcase his work. He has since spent £10m restoring it.

In October last year he was named in the top 10 most powerful people in the international art scene and produced a piece of work called For the Love of God.

The work, a platinum skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds, was exhibited at White Cube Gallery in London earlier this year with a £50m price tag, making it the most expensive single work of art by a living artist.

Hirst, who is criticised by some for using an army of assistants to help him create his work, has called the auction a "mini-retrospective" and "probably the most amazing show I've put on".

Viscount Charles Dupplin, an art expert, congratulated Sotheby's and Hirst on the sale.

He said: "It's another landmark and an astounding day for the art market in a year that has seen many long-standing records demolished, despite the gloomy world economy."

But the Stuckist art movement, which promotes figurative art in opposition to conceptual art, said they were offering a shark for "only £1m", "a huge saving" on those available from Hirst. The shark is now available for viewing by appointment, they said.

Charles Thomson, co-founder of the Stuckists, said: "I hope this will bring a bit of sanity into things as it's quite obvious that the art world has gone stark raving bonkers."

Hirst's auction also raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charities with the sale of four heart-shaped paintings featuring butterflies, all called Beautiful Love.

Survival International, which helps indigenous peoples around the world, will receive £898,335; Strummerville, the music charity for young people set up after the death of Hirst's friend Joe Strummer of The Clash, will receive £825,250; Kent children's hospice Demelza House will get a donation of £769,250; while Kids Company, a London-based charity which helps vulnerable children and young people, collects £668,450.

An oil-on-canvas painting of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates with one of Hirst's sharks raised £313,000 for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which tries to reduce inequality throughout the world.