Two masterworks of art anchoring a major auction at Sotheby s – Picasso painting and a Giacometti sculpture – went unsold late Tuesday, as the spring auction season got off to a muted start.
Pablo Picasso s 1938 portrait of his daughter Maya, The Daughter of the Artist at Two-and-a-half Years with a Boat, had been expected to fetch between 16 and $24 million, but failed to reach the minimum bid of $12.5 million said Tobias Meyer, vice president of the auction house.
Alberto Giacometti sculpture The Cat, finished in 1951 and considered one of the Swiss-born sculptor s finest works, failed to clear the threshold of slightly more than $14 million sought by the seller.
Like the Picasso painting, The Cat had been expected to fetch between $16 and $24 million.
The global financial crisis has put a damper on the high-flying art auction world, with fewer works being put up for sale compared to a year ago, and with prices expected to be lower across the board.
Another Picasso work, the 1971 painting A Woman with a Hat goes on sale Wednesday at rival auction house Christie s.
The painting, which comes from artist Julian Schnabel s collection, is estimated to be worth between $6 million and $8 million. -AFP
