Top Lots Flop at Sotheby’s Imp/Mod Sale

Tamara de Lempicka Pablo Picasso Alberto Giacometti Joan Miro Marc Chagall Claude Monet Camille Pissarro Piet Mondrian

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But Joan Miro’s Figure, a 39¾-inch bronze from a 1981 lifetime cast, made $506,500 (est. $400–600,000), marking quite a come-down (or comeuppance) from the $992,000 it made at the same house in May 2007, when the market was still ascending.

When all was said and done, even Sotheby’s seemed at a loss to characterize the current market. Moments after the sale, Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern expert Simon Shaw said, “In the Impressionist field, the market found its level in the $2–5 million range, but in the modern, who knows how to value these great things?”

Several dealers criticized Sotheby’s for its overreaching estimates on the spurned top lots, especially the Giacometti cat. “There was nothing wrong with the piece,” said seasoned London dealer Thomas Gibson. “It was just too expensive. It should have been $8–12 million [not $16–24 million]. But the rest of the sale kicked the recession in the backside.”

The decent result cushioned the negative news that rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the firm's corporate credit rating a steep three notches to “BB-” or junk bond status, based on a “greatly reduced art auction market” and “a substantial increase in debt leverage.”

The Impressionist and modern evening action continues tonight at Christie’s.