A Disappointing Evening at Sotheby's

Paul Gauguin
"Te Poipoi (Le Matin)" (1892)
$39,241,000
Est. $40–60 million

The pristine provenance of this Tahitian landscape—62 years in the collection of New York patron of the arts Joan Whitney Payson—did not help it reach even its low estimate. Considering it carried the greatest expectations of the evening and was the sale’s highest-grossing lot, its purchase was rather unexciting. Meyer opened the bidding at $30 million, and Hong Kong real-estate developer Joseph Lau won it on the phone without much of a fight.

Courtesy Sotheby's