Courtesy Sotheby's

Jeff Koons’s "Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquoise/Magenta)" (1994–2008) was the evening's top lot, selling to dealer Larry Gagosian for $5,458,500 (est. $6–8 million).

Christopher Wool Alexander Calder Andy Warhol Jean-Michel Basquiat Jeff Koons Martin Kippenberger Robert Gober Richard Prince

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That number fell short of low pre-sale expectations of $51.8 million, but all but nine of the 48 works offered managed to sell, for confidence-building sell-through rates of 81 percent by lot and 78 percent by value.

For comparison’s sake, the firm’s November 2008 tally was $125 million, with 68 percent sold by lot, and at the equivalent sale a year ago, the house hit a grand slam of $362 million, with 88 percent sold by lot.

For a lower result than last night’s, you’d have to scroll back to May 2003, when Sotheby’s realized $27 million. But still, four artist records were set, and 14 works made over a million dollars. Of those, five sold in excess of $2.5 million.

The top lot — no surprises here — was Jeff Koons’s high-chromium stainless steel confection Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquoise/Magenta) (1994–2008), which sold to dealer Larry Gagosian for $5,458,500 (est. $6–8 million).

The wildly decorative “Celebration” series sculpture was offered in the $18–20 million range when it was shown by Gagosian last September at the Red October Chocolate Factory in Moscow. It was consigned at this sale by New York hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb.

Asked after the sale about the price for the Koons, auctioneer and Sotheby’s contemporary head Tobias Meyer said, “That’s a very serious amount of money for a very serious artist.”

Koons’s record at auction is a galaxy away, at £12.9 million ($25.8 million), set at Christie’s London in June 2008 by Balloon Flower (Magenta), from the collection of Dallas art patron Howard Rachofsky.

Of this sale’s smallish band of overachievers, Martin Kippenberger’s sassy cover lot, Untitled (1988), a self-portrait based in part on the famous photograph of Picasso in his underwear, went to New York/London/Zurich dealer Iwan Wirth for a record $4,114,500 (est. $3.5–4.5 million). It bashed the record set at Phillips de Pury in London in October 2007, when the artist’s Paris Bar sold for $1,295,579.

The picture was one of two strong lots from the storied collection of Athens developer and arts patron Dakis Joannou that carried a form of third-party guarantee described by Sotheby’s as an “irrevocable bid,” meaning an anonymous bidder promised to pay a minimum and undisclosed price for the work. It is unclear whether Wirth was that guarantor.

The other Joannou piece, Christopher Wool’s boldly graphic Untitled (P105) (1989), which bore the broken word “Comedian,” sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for $1,874,500 (est. $1.5–2 million), also a record for the artist.

In addition to the usual parade of blue-chip art stars — including the early and beautiful Alexander Calder standing mobile Ebony Sticks in Semi-Circle (1934), which made $3,498,500 (est. $1–1.5 million), selling to a telephone bidder after being underbid by Los Angeles billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad — there were a few hotly contested surprises.

Among them was Dan Colen’s vaguely Old Master-esque still life Untitled (Blow Me) (2005), which inspired at least four bidders, who drove the painting to a record $386,500 (est. $100–150,000). New York dealer Stellan Holm was the underbidder. The title refers to smoke rings rising from a tabletop candle, and injected some needed humor in what was a generally a sedate and unremarkable evening.

But mostly it was a strange night that felt as if the smallish crowd was on appetite suppressant pills.

The cautious atmosphere was reflected in Broad’s rejection of auctioneer Meyer’s entreaty for another bid on the rare Calder. “You don’t strike me as somebody who gives up,” Meyer said, but Broad didn’t budge.

As he left the salesroom later, Broad noted, “It’s a great, early work, and we went twice the high estimate. You’ve got to stop somewhere.”

There wasn’t a Richard Prince “Nurse” painting in sight, for a change, but two joke paintings from different periods were offered, and both sold. The earlier one, Can You Imagine (1989), scaled at 78 by 58 inches, drew five bidders and sold for $1,370,500 (est. $600–800,000). New York dealer Per Skarstedt was the underbidder.

But Prince’s My Girlfriend, a 2005 joke painting measuring 92 by 72 inches, squeaked by at $662,500, selling to Los Angeles dealer Patricia Marshall, who bid in the room on behalf of a client at her side. Are Prince’s later jokes not as funny as his early ones?

Sotheby’s put together a no-frills sale, hitting the money on pre-sale expectations and keeping things at the right level for a subdued marketplace afraid of overspending.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Red Man One, from his prime year of 1982, sold to the telephone for a respectable $3,554,500 (est. $3–5 million) after being chased by New York dealer Jose Mugrabi.

Mugrabi was in fine form, also bidding on a number of Warhols as if guarding his legacy, nailing the 14-square-inch Flowers (1964) for $410,500 (est. $400–600,000) but watching Fifteen One Dollar Bills, a 1982 work on paper, go to New York dealer Lawrence Luhring for $902,500 (est. $750,000–1 million). The work on paper last sold at auction at Christie’s New York in May 2002 for $449,500.

There was very little Abstract Expressionist–era material in evidence, but David Smith’s small but regal Large Circle (Voltri) (1962) did well, selling to a telephone bidder for $2,602,500 (est. $2.5–3.5 million).

One of the evening’s few disappointments was Robert Gober’s untitled, symbolism-infused, mixed-media wall relief from 1990, which considering its rarity and importance might have performed but instead died at a chandelier-bid-aided $2.4 million (est. $2.5–3.5 million).

“The market is unexciting but stable,” said New York art adviser Allan Schwartzman moments after the sale. “It’s exactly what you would have expected. People know what they want.”

The evening action resumes at Christie’s on Wednesday.

Judd Tully is Editor at Large of Art+Auction.