Edward Winkleman mentioned that “…Sotheby’s stock plunged something like 28% because of a lackluster sale of Impressionist and Modern art. ”

“….The speculation this morning is more furious than the bidding was last night, obviously, but it’s foolhardy to place too much importance on the outcome of one auction (especially in light of how well Christie’s had done the day before). The Dow Jones Industrial Average tank yesterday, oil is so close to $100/barrel we might as well call it that, and the dollar may very well replace firewood for a heating source in certain regions this winter. All of this very likely soured the mood in the room before the first lot was revealed. Once the Van Gogh was bought in, it snowballed from there.”

I’m thinking the real issue is a lack of liquidity in the Financial Markets right now - it may be that borrowing money to buy art is getting harder to do (using leveraged assets, etc .. not that I know much or anything about this subject).

I think Art reflects life, but not just the Art itself, but even the Art Market could be said, in Sotheby’s case, to reflect general market conditions.