Billionaire `Outbid on Everything' With Art Steadier Than Stocks
- Sotheby’s sees 17 percent rise at contemporary evening sale
- A Gerhard Richter canvas was the top lot, fetching $32 million
Buyers have spent more than $1.4 billion during the first four days of a week-long marathon of art auctions in New York, undeterred by wobbly stock markets, Brexit angst and global trade tensions.
They plunked down more than $1 billion during the first three days of sales that started Sunday, snapping up historic paintings by Pablo Picasso, Rene Magritte and Edward Hopper, and an additional $362.6 million on Wednesday at Sotheby’s contemporary art evening sale, a 17 percent increase from a year ago.