After Leonardo sale, art world wonders: Is the sky the limit?

AFTER the hammer went down on the staggering Leonardo da Vinci sale on Wednesday night - US$450.3 million for a painting of disputed quality - it was difficult for the auctioneer and potential bidders to turn their attention to the other lots.

"The air sucked out of the room after that," said Paul Gray, a partner at Richard Gray Gallery. "It was kind of hard to move on." And even into the next day, the art world continued to grapple with what seemed like a new landscape, with auction traditions upended and the ceiling suddenly limitless. Would this sale push up the entire market? Was the price unique or a sign of things to come? And would auction houses now mimic Christie's strategy, one that focused less on expertise and authentication and more on branding and marketing?

In addition to trying to figure out who bought the painting, the art world was also dissecting the bidding war itself. Bidding that started with six buyers ricocheted at nosebleed prices for almost 20 minutes, with often staggering jumps in increments. Instead of moving the price up in modest multimillion-dollar amounts, the last offer was a throw-down - jumping to US$400 million from US$370 million - an aggressive strategy that won the buyer the painting and left onlookers incredulous.