Christie's finds relief in stable prices and a Basquiat sale

New York

GOING into its post-war and contemporary sale on Tuesday night, Christie's had reason to be anxious about a perceived softening in the market - fears that appeared to have been confirmed by Sotheby's impressionist and modern auction on Monday night, when a whopping one-third of the 62 lots failed to sell.

But Christie's management was soon breathing a sigh of relief: Its centrepiece canvas by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for US$57.3 million, a high for the artist at auction. And its final tally was US$318.4 million with fees, against a low estimate of US$281 million.

The auction house was ultimately pleased by what Brett Gorvy, Christie's worldwide chairman of post-war and contemporary art, described as "strong but deliberate buying". The evening confirmed contemporary art's continued status as the hottest category in the market, which showed unexpected resilience given that many potential sellers had decided to sit out the auctions this season in wait-and-see mode, keeping their best pieces on their walls …