CHRISTIE’S DRAWS $176.7 MILLION IN MODERN AND IMPRESSIONIST SALES

Christie’s sale of modern and Impressionist art sold £89.7 million ($176.7 million) worth in London late Tuesday, falling between the auction’s high and low estimates, with 20 percent of items failing to sell, Bloomberg‘s Linda Sandler reports. The sale was expected to garner between £74.8 million and £105.6 million ($147.3 million and $208 million). “If last night’s sale had all gone through the roof, I would have been a lot more nervous than I am,” private dealer Christopher Eykyn said in an interview today. “There is still room for the market to grow, provided buyers retain the ability to differentiate between the great works and the lesser ones.”