Courtesy Sotheby's

Among the 13 Norman Rockwell works on sale at Sotheby's was "Gary Cooper as 'The Texan'" (1930), which made $5.9 million.

Courtesy Christie's

Bringing in $5.8 million, Andrew Wyeth's "The Intruder" (1971) was Christie's top lot.

Charles Burchfield Milton Avery Henry Ossawa Tanner Andrew Wyeth Henri Matisse William Merritt Chase Winslow Homer George Bellows

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Despite the strong numbers, nearly a quarter of the lots in each auction went unsold. Second-rate canvases by Mary Cassatt and William Merritt Chase generated no interest, and a lackluster selection of works from the Orlando, Florida, collectors Samuel B. and Marion W. Lawrence, guaranteed by Christie’s, fared poorly. “Ordinarily there is a lot of sopping up at the bottom end,” says the Vermont private dealer James Maroney. “There wasn’t much sopping up going on.”

"American Paintings" originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's February 2008 Table of Contents.