London
(ANI):
A
painting
of
a
boxer
by
Jean-Michel
Basquiat,
which
was
owned
by
Metallica
drummer
Lars
Ulrich,
has
fetched
13.5
million
dollars
at
an
auction.
On
the
other
hand,
a
Francis
Bacon
painting
failed
to
sell,
fuelling
fears
over
the
state
of
the
art
market.
The
painting
by
Basquiat
was
a
highlight
of
Christie's
contemporary
art
auction
in
New
York.
Though,
Bacon's
Study
for
Self
Portrait
was
billed
as
a
highlight
of
the
auction,
and
was
expected
to
fetch
40
million
dollars,
the
bidding
stalled
at
27.4million
dollars
and
the
auction
was
halted.
A
total
of
75
contemporary
works
went
under
the
hammer
at
the
sale
on
Wednesday
evening,
but
almost
a
third
failed
to
attract
a
buyer.
The
auction
took
a
total
of
113.6million
dollars,
half
the
low
pre-sale
estimate
of
227million
dollars.
"The
market
is
continuing,
but
clearly
at
a
different
price
level," BBC
news
quoted
Christie's
president
Marc
Porter,
as
saying.
"There's
no
panic
in
the
market,
but
there
is
an
adjustment.
While
it
had
declined,
you've
seen
it
find
a
stable
level,
with
a
lot
of
support,"
he
added.
Baird
Ryan,
managing
director
of
the
art-related
financial
services
firm
Art
Capital
Group,
said
there
continued
to
be
demand
for
fine
art.