Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The artworks of Park Avenue widow Rita Hillman and property heiress Alice Lawrence fetched about half the low estimate at Christie's International's New York sale last night, as the top end of the art market continues to sag.

The auction tallied $47 million, against a presale estimate of $103 million to $150 million. Bidding was sparse as collectors resisted paying up for anything but a handful of top works. Paintings by Edouard Manet and Mark Rothko didn't draw any bids, while many works sold for half presale estimates.

The projected top lot of Hillman's collection was Manet's verdant ``Filette sur un banc,'' an 1880 portrait of an open- faced young girl on a bench, which had hung above the Hillman's marble mantle for decades and was expected to sell for up to $18 million. It had no bids.

Auctioneer Christopher Burge struggled to inject some energy in an otherwise somber salesroom full of collectors, dealers and art advisers who appeared to have lost confidence.

``Prices are at the levels of two years ago,'' said New York dealer David Nash.

Buying was also tempered by the falling U.S. stock market, which posted its biggest plunge following a presidential election yesterday as reports on jobs and service industries stoked concern the economy would worsen.

Last night's sale was an addition to the usual calendar, an auction comprised of fresh-to-the-market, but uneven estate material.

``In a bull market, they would have got away with this,'' said London dealer Guy Jennings, of Theobald Jennings Fine Art. ``It was overly ambitious.'' Jennings said that when these sales were organized in the summer, it was ``a different world'' and art prices were better.

Rocky Start

Last night's sale was the second of a two-week series of major art auctions. The week got off to a rocky start at Sotheby's on Monday when an Impressionist and modern art auction tallied $223.8 million, missing the $338 million low estimate.

The first half of last night's 58-lot sale was drawn from the estate of Hillman, who collected European Impressionist and modern artworks with her book and magazine publisher husband from the 1940s to the 1960s. Hillman died last year at the age of 95. Her husband Alex died in 1968. The collection was projected to sell for up to $87 million -- but took just $28 million.

Most of the Hillman property went for prices well below presale estimates. The priciest lot of her estate was Giorgio De Chirico's enigmatic 1914 ``Composition Metaphysique,'' which fetched $6.1 million, just over the $6 million low projection.

An 1882-1884 Georges Seurat drawing of a lonesome house fetched $1.1 million against the $800,000 low estimate. A 1912 cubist Fernand Leger drawing ``Etude pour Le Modele nu dans l`atelier,'' brought $3.3 million, just below the $3.5 million low estimate.

`Wonderful Bargains'

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's ``Portrait de Henri Nocq'' fetched $4.45 million, compared with a $6 million low projection.

``There were some wonderful bargains to be had for people who have cash,'' said Nash, after the sale.

Property from Alice Lawrence's Ridgefield, Connecticut home filled the second half of the sale. She died last February at 82.

Lawrence bought in the 1980s and her eclectic taste ranged from American modernism to surrealism. Earlier this spring, Christie's, expecting the Lawrence collection to sell well, provided a guarantee to the consignor, a secret promised amount - - usually around the low estimate -- that Christie's agreed to pay regardless of the sale's outcome.

Her collection was estimated to sell for $44 million to $66 million -- and fetched just $19 million.

The evening's biggest casualty was Rothko's 1960 ``No. 43 (Mauve).'' The hazy black, gray and burgundy 7-foot-tall painting, estimated to fetch up to $30 million, drew no bids.

Bright Hues Sell

Lawrence had paid $1.5 million for the canvas in 1988 at Sotheby's in New York. The dark palette made the painting less saleable. The top ten priciest Rothkos sold at auction mostly feature bright pinks, oranges, blues and reds.

``It's hard to swim against the tide,'' said art adviser Stefano Basilico, who worked with the Lawrence estate on the sale. ``People didn't have nerve.''

An exuberant 12-foot wide, rainbow-hued 1959-1960 Morris Louis painting ``Untitled'', which hung in her living room, sold for $2.1 million, just over the $2 million low estimate. Lawrence paid $1 million at Sotheby's New York ten years ago.

An Alberto Giacometti floral painting, a John Chamberlain metal sculpture and a Willem de Kooning charcoal were among works that didn't sell.

Lozowick's Pittsburgh

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts took advantage of a slow night to buy Louis Lozowick's 1922 ``Pittsburgh'' with red and beige skyscrapers, according to Christie's Eric Widing, head of American painting. The Lozowick, estimated to sell for up to $500,000, fetched $386,500.

Christie's main Impressionist and modern art sale takes place tonight, which the auction house expects to tally $246.2 million to $344.4 million.

Christie's said 51 percent of buyers were American and 29 percent European. Prices include a buyer's premium, or commission, of 25 percent of the hammer price up to $50,000, 20 percent of the price from $50,000 to $1 million, and 12 percent above $1 million. Estimates don't include commissions.

(Lindsay Pollock writes on the arts for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Lindsay Pollock in New York at lindsaypollock@yahoo.com.

Last Updated: November 6, 2008 11:46 EST