Lucio Fontana’s egg-shaped painting sold by billionaire Steven A. Cohen fetched $29.2 million Tuesday evening, one of the top three lots auctioned at Christie’s where bidders showed restraint for overpriced works.
The contemporary art auction tally of $331.8 million surpassed the presale target of $316 million. Coupled with a special “The Artist’s Muse" sale on Monday evening, Christie’s sold a total of $823 million in two days. That’s a drop from the $852.9 million evening sale last November, and a 41 percent decline from two similar evening sales in May. Of 66 lots offered Tuesday, 80 percent found buyers.
