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.