Bacon fails to sell, Christie feels the crunch

The top lot at an auction of contemporary art failed to sell at Christie.

London, Feb 13: The top lot at an auction of contemporary art failed to sell late on Wednesday, reversing the fortunes of Christie`s which held a relatively robust auction of impressionist and post-war art in London earlier this month.

Francis Bacon`s "Man in Blue VI," expected to fetch 4-6 million pounds in London, was shunned, and overall the post-war and contemporary sale raised 8.4 million pounds ($12.1 million), far below the expected range of 15.1-21.8 million pounds. At the same sale last year, a Bacon triptych sold for 26.3 million pounds and the sale fetched 72.9 million pounds, then the second highest total for a Christie`s contemporary and post-war sale held in London. Wednesday`s result underlines how rapidly values for post-war and contemporary art have eroded due to the economic crisis, following a long bull run fueled partly by super-rich collectors from Asia, Russia and the Middle East. The auction comes the same month that Christie`s raised 63.4 million pounds at its main impressionist and modern art sale, a total which experts considered to be a strong result given the uncertainty caused by the financial crisis. Also earlier this month, Christie`s main rival Sotheby`s realized a total of 17.9 million pounds at its contemporary art evening sale. The top lot of the evening at Christie`s was "Monkeys (Ladder)," by Jeff Koons, which sold for 1.4 million pounds, or around the low end of the pre-sale estimate. Bacon`s unsold "Man in Blue VI," dating from 1954, is one of seven paintings in the same series. The sitter is an unknown man and experts believe it was made from life rather than from a photograph, which was Bacon`s usual method. The painting was being offered at auction for the first time having been in the same ownership for nearly 40 years. Bureau Report