Yesterday it was Andy Warhol’s painting that did not reach its pre-sale estimate at an auction at Sotheby’s. Today, a rare Lucien Freud painting of Francis Bacon failed to reach its pre-sale estimate of about $14 million. The painting, which has been described as an unfinished portrait of his friend and painted around 1956, sold for about $9 million at a Christie’s Auction. Based on previous sales, the price was a bargain for a Freud painting. In an article I wrote in my June 23, 2007 Newsletter, I described a portrait painting sold at Christie’s auction of another of Freud's friends, Bruce Bernard. It set a record auction price for a living artist. And yet another painting titled Benefits Supervisor Sleeping sold in May of this year for $33.6 million, which was at the higher end of the pre-sale estimate. Both Warhol and Freud failing to reach pre-sale estimates has many questioning whether the slump will continue as stocks take a roller coaster ride and credit is at a low even for the wealthy.
