Richard Weisman once observed that “Andy [Warhol] didn’t know the difference between a football and a golf ball.”  Hardly a sports buff myself, I surprisingly transform into an avid tennis fan each year during the U.S. Open.  Something about the volley rhythm is deeply soothing to me.  Well, tonight was the men’s final and I thought I’d honor the sport by posting Andy Warhol’s Chris Evert, which was stolen this week along with nine other Warhol silkscreens from Weisman’s Los Angeles home.  Art market experts, including A.A.C.-favorite Tobias Meyer, are “scratching their heads” because the resale of the pieces is virtually impossible due to the insular market for Warhol works.

Tonight, May 12th, is the much-anticipated sale of contemporary art at Sotheby’s in New York.  Usually one of the most hyped auctions of the year, everyone was waiting to see just how the global economic downturn would effect the art market at its most elite levels.  I’m thrilled to report from…a half-filled 2nd floor salesroom, since I’m not credit-worthy enough for a paddle to bid (come on, I’m 26 and don’t have a trust fund) to get me into the 7th floor where the sale took place.  Be that as it may, I’m perfectly happy watching auctioneer Tobias Meyer on a flatscreen threaten “I shall sell it then!” just a few floors away.  My room was under the watchful eyes of three staff members, including one bid caller.

There were just 48 lots (originally 49, but lot 43- an Uklanski gouache- was pulled before the auction started), a substantial decrease from the number of lots offered last year.  8 lots went unsold, including a large Rauschenberg, a small-ish (for him!) Richard Serra, and a Frank Stella with an unbeatable provenance, giving the sale a sell rate of  83%.

The most expensive lot was a Koons sculpture, Baroque Egg with Bow (Turquoise/Magenta), which sold for $4.8 million but well under its $6-8 million estimate.  Two winning lots were a 1934 Alexander Calder sculpture that sold for $3.05 million (estimate of $1-$1.5 million) and a Dan Colen oil on canvas that sold for $320,000 (estimate of $100,000-$150,000).  All selling prices are before buyer’s premium is added.

Sale total: $47,033,500 with buyer’s premium, slightly under the approximately $52 million low-end estimate that does not include buyer’s premium.  Most reporters will certainly call this a disappointing sale, but given the shift in scale of this auction compared to seasons past and the lowered estimates to encourage bidding despite the financial crisis, the major auction houses and galleries must be thankful tonight that still very wealthy people and institutions are still going after many big-name contemporary artists and pieces.

Click here for a review of the auction from The New York Times.  Final sale results from Sotheby’s can be found by clicking here.

News sources were mostly down on the results of this week’s Impressionist and Modern Sale at Sotheby’s.  A lack of bidders for two of the featured works, a Picasso portrait and Giacometti sculpture, brought the sale total to $61.4 million– below the low estimate of $81 million and the lowest sale total in this category since 2001, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  One bright point was the sale of Mondrian‘s Composition in Black and White, with Double Lines (pictured above) for $9.3 million, almost double its $5 million estimate.

Shouldn’t we be happy that despite an economic crisis, art maintains appeal at the high end of the market?  Maybe I’m being optimistic…

The Times Online discovered that the unsold Picasso was consigned by a victim of the Bernie Madoff scandal: click here.

No, wait, The New York Times discovered that point (but this article has a picture of Tobias Meyer!): click here.

Bloomberg’s assessment of Sotheby’s economic well-being (or lack thereof): click here.

Mandatory reading from The New York Times!  Carol Vogel speaks with Ann Temkin (chief curator for painting and sculpture at the MoMA), Marc Porter (president of Christie’s America), Steven P. Henry (director of Paula Cooper Gallery), Matthew Marks (of Matthew Marks Gallery), the dreamy Tobias Meyer (worldwide head of contemporary art for Sotheby’s), and others about why high-end collectors are seeking fast liquidity in private sales as opposed to public auctions.  Check out the article by clicking here.

Just to fixate on Tobias Meyer, pictured above, for a moment– if you haven’t seen him command an auction in his well-tailored suit/tuxedo and charming accent, you should.  It’s mesmerizing.  If you missed the 2006 New Yorker piece about him, “The Alchemist,” it’s worth a read.