Victor Brauner’s Tableau autobiographique—ultratableau biosensible, dated March 1948, falls in the category of fun Surrealism, with a fair dose of Dada-inherited absurdity conveyed in pseudochildish style. Like the Valmier, it is big, has contrasting colors and catches the eye from at least 10 yards away. At $993,000, it now holds the world record for a Brauner.

Several extremely high prices confirmed the stimulating effect that trophy hunting has on the market for Impressionist and modern art, regardless of school or style. Large sculptures typical of famous artists sold like hotcakes. Giacometti’s Femme de Venise VIII, cast in 1957 in an edition of six, rose to $10.1 million. And a very unusual Picasso bronze bird, cast between 1952 and 1954 in an edition of four, each individually painted, rose to a stunning $19.2 million, helped by its touch of fun Surrealism.

At Sotheby’s, as at Christie’s, art with fine nuances proved unpopular. A beautiful signed and dated Pissarro landscape painted at Louveciennes illustrates a crucial moment in art history, when French naturalism, with its melancholy Romanticism, was mutating into Impressionism. The colors are subdued, and the mood is as subtle as the delicate brushwork, which is very modern in its sketchiness. These qualities are not in favor today. As the bids called out by Meyer reached $950,000, no one in the room showed any interest. The auctioneer quickly brought down his hammer. That week, when money poured so readily, one more gem had failed to catch the attention of the new buyers.

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