CHRISTIE’S POSTWAR AND CONTEMPORARY SALE TOTALS $93.7 MILLION

Unlike Sotheby’s sale on Tuesday, where bidding was thin and buyers reluctant, Christie’s auction of postwar and contemporary art on Wednesday showed a different face altogether, reports Carol Vogel for the New York Times. The sale totaled $93.7 million, just under its high $104.5 million estimate. Of the fifty-four works up for sale, only five failed to find buyers.

The evening, while a victory for the auction house, still illustrated how contracted the market has become; a comparable auction exactly a year ago brought $348.2 million. Among the stars from the Betty Freeman estate, which kicked off the auction, was David Hockney’s Beverly Hills Housewife, 1966–67. The double canvas brought in a record $7.9 million, within the $6 million to $10 million estimate. Another popular painting from Freeman’s collection was Roy Lichtenstein’s Frolic, 1977. Larry Gagosian beat out two other bidders for the painting, paying $6 million, a record price for the artist.

After the sale, the audience seemed amazed at how collectors were still eager to buy art in this economy. “Things were more reasonable,” said Peter Brant, the newsprint magnate, as he was leaving Christie’s. “The market has found its level.”