Recession knocks Picasso for a loop

The art market flunked a stress test Tuesday night as Sotheby's posted its lowest total for a New York Impressionist and modern art auction since November 2001. The top two lots, by Picasso and Alberto Giacometti, failed to sell.

The $61.4 million total was about a quarter of the tally of a year ago and well below the auction house's low estimate of $81.5 million. Picasso's robin-egg blue portrait of the artist's daughter and a bronze cat by Swiss sculptor Giacometti had each been estimated to fetch up to $24 million.

"They took a big hit in terms of credibility by not selling those two pieces," said Andrea Crane of Gagosian Gallery.