On a post-election night after the Dow plunged 486 points in a wave of nervous sell-offs, Christie’s stand-alone sale of two modern art collections fetched less than 50 percent of pre-sale expectations. The house’s back-to-back auctions of the Hillman Family and the Alice Lawrence Collections earned an anemic total of $47,039,500, against an estimate of $102.3–149 million. The Hillman works earned $28,047,000, or 36 percent unsold by lot and 45 percent by value, while the Lawrence Collection made $18,992,500, for buy-in rates of 23 percent by lot and 55 percent by value. 

In total, 41 of the 58 lots offered found buyers for a respectable buy-in rate of 29 percent, but the majority of sold lots went for substantially reduced, and in some cases fire-sale, prices.

There were plenty of bargains for those willing to make bids. “I bought exactly what I wanted,” said London dealer Libby Howie, who acquired two works on paper: Pablo Picassos pen-and-India-ink drawing Trois Nus (August 5, 1938) for $578,500 (est. $700,000–1,000,000) and Henri Matisses Le Modèle for $362,500 (est. $600–900,000).

It was an evening of price corrections, and some bottom-feeders took advantage. Long Island dealer David Benrimon acquired three significant works, including two bargain-basement deals: Georges Braques Nature morte à la corbeille de fruits for $842,500 (est. $1.2–1.8 million) and Joan Mirós Femme et oiseau devant le soleil for $2,154,500 (est. $2.5–3.5 million). “Tonight you had great opportunities,” said the dealer. “It’s between 20 and 25 percent below market value,” he added of the works he purchased.

Benrimon’s also acquired Rene Magrittes gouache-on-paper L'Empire des lumières, for which he paid $3,554,500 (est. $2–3 million), a record price for a work on paper by the artist. Though this was one of the few works to exceed its estimate, the dealer speculated that six months ago, it would be have been worth $4 million.

Another high achiever was Alice Neels stunning portrait Robert Smithson, which went to a telephone bidder for $698,500 (est. $300–400,000). The work was chased by at least four bidders, including dealers Jeffrey Deitch, David Zwirner, and the ultimate underbidder, Andrew Fabricant of New York’s Richard Gray Gallery.

But Christie’s lost a bundle of money, as the Alice Lawrence Collection portion of the sale, which carried an undisclosed guarantee, flopped. The 30 works from the late Connecticut-based collector and philanthropist failed to earn half of its pre-sale low estimate of $44 million. The biggest loser in that trove was Mark Rothko's darkly beautiful No. 43 (MAUVE), measuring 91½ by 61½ inches, which died at a chandelier bid of $16 million (est. $20–30 million). Lawrence purchased the work at Sotheby's New York in November 1988 for $1.54 million (est. $650–850,000).

The action resumes tomorrow night with the house’s 85-lot Impressionist/Modern Evening Sale, which is estimated to earn in excess of $250 million.

Judd Tully is Editor at Large of Art+Auction.