Sotheby's Art Sale Falters

The spring art auctions started with a hiccup on Tuesday when the highest priced work and other top lots failed to sell at Sotheby's Impressionist and modern sale, leading executives to conclude their estimates were just too high. Some works, notably Max Beckmann's "Self Portrait With Crystal Ball" and Pablo Picasso's "Women of Algiers" commanded strong prices. But Wassily Kandinsky's "Two Riders and Reclining Figures," promoted as a significant masterpiece, went unsold when bidding topped out at $11.25 million.Sotheby's had estimated the work would sell for $15 million to $25 million.The spotty result for the first big sale was troubling. "We had some good moments and we had some bad moments," said David Norman, Sotheby's co-chair of Impressionist and modern art. "I wish there had been more good ones." For the full story - click the title Irish Art