Fewer American Buyers at Auction Than Originally Reported

NEW YORK—Following careful reviews of buyers in this month’s major auctions of Impressionist, modern, postwar, and contemporary art in New York, both Christie’s and Sotheby’s have revised their reported rates of lots purchased by American buyers, the New York Times reports.

Following its May 7 Imp-Mod sale, Sotheby’s initially reported that 67 percent of the buyers that night were Americans. A week later, the house revised that number to 54 percent.

For its part, Christie's reported its May 13 contemporary sale that 70 percent of buyers were American against 26 percent Europeans, but a more careful review showed that this figure was also inaccurate, according to Marc Porter, the auction house's president. Once the winning bidders were properly identified, he said, “Russian buying was more present than it’s ever been in New York before,” adding, “American buying was not what it was a year ago.”