Andy Warhol, Lucio Fontana and Lucian Freud works that sold in three days of London contemporary-art auctions were not enough to raise the weekend total much above a half of presale estimates as dealers and collectors delayed purchases in the worst financial crisis since the Depression.
Sales by Sotheby’s, Christie’s International and Phillips de Pury & Co made a combined 59 million pounds ($102 million), against minimum estimates of 106.2 million pounds, according to Bloomberg calculations. They follow a five-day auction by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong this month that raised HK$1.1 billion ($141.7 million), also about half the presale estimate, as buyers shunned some top lots for being too expensive.
“These are old prices”, said New York dealer Alberto Mugrabi, whose family owns one of the largest Warhol collections, explaining why he let one Warhol work pass at Christie’s last night. “They would have to be readjusted. It can’t be readjusted for every industry in the world and not for the art market”. (Bloomberg)