Degas tops, Picasso flops at lukewarm Christie's sale
- November 04, 2009 14:32
It was a thin sale of Impressionist and modern art, with just 40 works on offer and prices that fell below estimates. Christie's sale totaled $65.6 million, but had been estimated to bring at least $68.6 million. About 42 percent of the buyers were Europeans. The star was an 1896 Degas pastel of a dancer, a classic Impressionist image fetching $9.5 million. These prettier works are what buyers have been gravitating toward since the recession began. There were no bids for Picasso's 1943 blood-red wartime “Tete de femme” (Head of Woman)...