Tim Schneider

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Zachary Small |Tim Schneider

Performing below their low estimates, the auction houses bet on a "flight to quality" but found little interest from bidders on top lots. By the art world's own accounting, the spring auction season fell short of even its lowest target. Reaching for a combined estimate from $1.2 billion to $1.6 billion, the three major auction houses fell short at $1 billion when excluding the hefty buyer fees that inflate their totals.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Tim Schneider

Why did the star lot of the spring season, a bronze head by the master sculptor Alberto Giacometti, fail to sell at Sotheby's on Tuesday? There were gasps, and a pall came over the entire salesroom. What was meant to be the most expensive lot of New York's bellwether spring auctions suddenly looked like a costly mistake. Alberto Giacometti's 1955 bust, "Grand tête mince (Grand tête de Diego)," carried a pre-sale estimate of over $70 million into Sotheby's Modern evening auction on Tuesday.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Zachary Small |Tim Schneider

There was little bidding on the art collection of the Riggio family, who built their fortune on the Barnes & Noble bookstore chain - a caution flag for the art market. Chandelier bidding. Quiet phone banks. Executives wiping their brows.

1 month ago | nytimes.com | Zachary Small |Tim Schneider

These bellwether artworks in the spring auctions this week may indicate whether a recovery is likely, after years of declining profits and high rollers. The spring sales of modern and contemporary art often arrive in May with a steady drumroll of paintings whose estimates soar above $50 million - a sign of confidence in the industry's roster of ultrawealthy collectors who trade them like financial assets.