This month's anticipated sales in New York have begun with some of the finest artworks from the Taubman collection bringing a total $377 million, on the low side of its total estimate of $374.8 million to $526.5 million, on Wednesday night at Sotheby's. Several of 77 lots in the Masterworks sale lagged behind estimates or brought no bids while a notable handful exceeded expectations.

An Asian telephone bidder bought the top lot, a staid portrait of “Paulette Jourdain” by Amedeo Modigliani for $42.8 million, above its $25 million estimate, but far less than the $100 million Christie's expects for the artist's sultry nude offered next week.

Willem de Kooning's 1976 abstract "Untitled XXI" fetched nearly $25 million, about its low estimate, while Mark Rothko's “No. 6/Sienna, Orange on Wine” brought $17.6 million and “Untitled (Lavender and Green)” went for $20.4 million, also its low estimate.

Frank Stella garnered an auction record price for his red abstract, “Delaware Crossing,” at $13.7 million. The artist's current retrospective at the Whitney was likely a boost. His previous auction record price was half as much at $6.6 million, set just last year at Christie's.

Other high performers were classic American paintings including a signature Winslow Homer, "In Charge of Baby," painted during the important period when the artist resided in seaside Gloucester. The watercolor of children on the shore brought $2.6 million, within its $2 million - $3 million estimate.

Georgia O'Keeffe's floral "Pink and Green (Pink Pastelle) fetched $2.5 million, well above a high estimate of $1.8 million.

Sculpture did particlualry well with Henry Moore's "Reclining Figure No. 7" bringing $3.37 million, above the low estimate of $2 million while his "Mother and Child with Apple" rose to $6.7 million (est. $4 million - $6 million). Maillol's "Venus (sans Collier)" more than doubled its high estimate to bring $2.6 million.

Two of the bid-less casualties, estimated to bring $15 million each, were a Degas of a nude woman combing her red hair and an abstract Jasper Johns in gray tones titled "Disappearance I."

Several lots sold below estimates, such as Picasso's "Femme Assise Sur Une Chaise" at $20 million (est. $25 million - $35 million).

A billionaire shopping mall magnate who bought Sotheby's for $124.8 million in 1983, and then transformed the auction house for the modern age, A. Alfred Taubman left a hefty legacy in the art world. One part of his story was 10 months of jail time served for the commission-fixing scandal with Christie's. Another was his appetite for fine art, spanning all time periods and styles, that created a collection that Sotheby's guaranteed for a historic $500 million. Taubman died in April at age 91.

This was the first sale in a series of four from Taubman's estate.

The expected $2-billion sales series at Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips winds down on Nov. 12. Read about upcoming auction highlights in the New York Times.