Wheat Fields Update

Vincent van Gogh's Wheat Fields (1890) failed to meet its reserve price at Sotheby's New York auction, reported BBC News on Thursday (CLICK). Twenty out of 76 lots didn't sell, including works by Picasso, Renoir, Matisse and Monet. And this was supposed to be Sotheby's biggie of the season. Yesterday BBC News reported Sotheby's losses for the last quarter and a drop in the value of its shares, due to "fears that the art market was slowing down" (title link). Maybe buyers have finally twigged that they've been paying over the odds for mediocre works and downright rubbish by big names with little talent. Maybe.