Shaky start for Sotheby's sales

AUCTION house Sotheby's has had a wobbly start to its spring art season in New York, with the highest-priced work and other top lots failing to sell at its Impressionist and modern sale.

But Sotheby's executives brushed off the setback, saying their estimates were too high.

Wassily Kandinsky's Two Riders and Reclining Figures, promoted as a significant masterpiece, went unsold when bidding topped out at $11.25m (£5.9m). Sotheby's had estimated the work would sell for $15m to $25m.

'We had some good moments and we had some bad moments,' said David Norman, Sotheby's co-chair of Impressionist and modern art. 'I wish there had been more good ones.' He said it appeared some of the works were priced above their worth.

'The result was estimates that were just too high for the pictures at this time,' said Norman, citing the Kandinsky as a 'simple rejection of the estimate'.

Other paintings, notably Max Beckmann's Self Portrait With Crystal Ball, and Picasso's Women of Algiers commanded strong prices. The Beckmann fetched $16.8m compared with estimates of between $10m and $15m, while the Picasso was sold for $18.6m, within its forecast range.

The Picasso was one of his 15 'Women of Algiers (J)' dedicated to North African women and was fought over by two main bidders.