A shaky economy and the impending war in Iraq made the lead up to the Spring post-war and contemporary art auctions an anxious time for the big New York auction houses. Tanks rolled into Baghdad as the consignment deadlines closed in, but by auction time in mid-May, the war seemed all but over and hefty tax breaks dominated the headlines. These factors, reserved estimates, and choice paintings by Abstract Expressionists at Sotheby’s, two Mark Rothko paintings at Christie’s and a selection of work by young artists at Phillips drew crowds to the auction rooms.

Sotheby’s Tuesday evening sale was the first of the week, and offered major works by Gerhard Richter, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. But the real excitement of the first evening centered on the mixed fate of the two top lots. Bidders had the rare opportunity to compete for ‘Number 17, 1949’ (est $5-7 million) a drip painting by Jackson Pollock, but sat on their hands as ‘Minutiae’ (est. $6-8 million), an early, freestanding combine from 1954 by Robert Rauschenberg failed to sell. The Pollock was one of six pieces consigned by the AG Foundation, an arts organization set up by collector and MOMA trustee Agnes Gund, and was snapped up by Manhattan dealer Larry Gagosian for $5.2 million. (All prices include buyer’s premium.)

Although the sale total of $27.3 million fell short of the $33.7 the low estimate, 84.8% of lots sold, and two artist records were set. At the beginning of the evening, a small, detailed oil painting by Vija Celmins from the estate of West coast environmentalist and collector Donna O’Neill shot to $545,600 from an estimate of $200-300,000. Not long after, Bradley Walker Tomlin’s ‘Number 15,’ the artist’s final painting before his premature death in 1953 soared to $904,000, double the high estimate, proving that buyers were prepared to look beyond first tier Abstract Expressionists for gems. However, many important works went for below their low estimates, like Willem DeKooning’s 1978 ‘Untitled V’ (est $2-3 million) an abstract canvas with suggestive red lines from the collection of former ImClone head Sam Waksal, which sold for $1.9 million.

The second largest sale of the evening, Andy Warhol’s ‘Four Foot Flowers’ from 1964 (est $2-3 million) cleared the low reserve hurdle to sell at $2.1 million to London jeweler Lawrence Graff, as reported by artnet.com . But during the week, Warhol prices were unstable at all three auction houses, which offered a combined total of 18 silkscreen paintings by the artist in their evening sales. Of the four Warhols given estimates at over one million at Sotheby’s, ‘Four Foot Flowers’ was the only one to find a buyer.

Top lot agony and ecstasy repeated itself at Christie’s the following night, with a major success and a big disappointment. Mark Rothko’s ‘No. 9 (White and Black on Wine)’ from 1958 (est $8-12 million) painted originally for the Four Seasons restaurant began at $5 million and steadily worked up to $16.3, setting a record for the artist. The painting was consigned by Christie’s owner Francois Pinault and bought by Robert Mnuchin of C&M Arts, who also purchased the evening’s second major Rothko. By contrast, ‘Year After Year’ (est $13-15 million) a rare painting by Arshile Gorky from 1947 and one of the few in private hands, was bought in. Nevertheless, excluding the Gorky, which had its own catalogue and sale number, the sale totaled $69.8 million between its estimate of $60.5 million to $83.2 , prompting auctioneer Christopher Burge to remark that, “The message from tonight’s sale is that the art market is strong...”

It certainly seemed so as eager bidders fought for another Rothko, an Yves Klein, several Warhols and Richters. Rothko’s ‘Brown and Blacks in Red’ from 1957 (est $6-8 million) from the Seagram Collection, reached $6.7 million and was the second highest price paid that evening. The painting had been consigned by financially ailing Vivendi Universal, who acquired the collection along with the Seagram company in 2001. The top Warhol of the sale and one of the stars of the show, ‘Marlon’ (est $4-5 million) a 1966 silkscreen of Brando draped over his motorcycle in the movie ‘The Wild One’ sold, according to Christie’s, to a Midwest collector for $5 million.

Christie’s sale included more work by younger artists than Sotheby’s, but much of it failed to sell. The outstanding exception was the painted fiberglass sculpture of a bizarrely proportioned girl seductress ‘Miss ko2’ from 1996 by Takashi Murakami (est $ 300-400,000), which attracted a winning bid of $567,500 and set a record for the artist. However, a stuffed animal and blanket installation by Mike Kelly and a film with projector by Charles Ray failed to sell, falling victim to a sale that collapsed toward the end. Earlier, ‘Untitled (Fortune Cookie Corner)’ a pile of approximately 10,000 fortune cookies, in an installation by Felix Gonzalez-Torres from 1990 (est $600-800,000) attracted almost no bidding and set the room abuzz with talk.

Artwork by younger artists fared better at Phillips. After a tough year for the house, during which its ownership changed hands, it closed its 57th Street location, and reduced its number of sales, Phillips tried to rebrand by creating a hipper atmosphere and showcasing work by younger artists. Pre-auction crowds milled around to base-heavy rhythms, the lots flashed up on monitors around the room and the walls featured a huge painting by Takashi Murakami and an Andreas Gursky photograph. Accordingly prices, and therefore sale totals, were lower but Phillips managed to sell all but four of 42 lots despite total sales of $11.6 million being nearly half of the low estimate.

Results on bigger ticket lots were mixed, as in the case of two Twomblys. The larger, more forceful ‘Untitled (Bolsena)’ from 1969 (est $2.5-3.5 million) consigned, according to the New York Times, by the Korean Gallery Seomi, sold for $1.9 million. But the more whimsical ‘Untitled (Rome)’ from 1961 (est $2-2.5 million) failed to attract bidding over $1.5 million. The sale highlight, ‘RE 21,’ (est $6-8 million) a 1960 Yves Klein sponge relief met the same fate, having drawn unfavorable comparison to ‘RE 2,’ a slightly earlier Klein for which the estimate had been set at a more conservative $3-4 million, that sold the night before at Christie’s. A final major landscape painting, ‘Vesuv (Vesuvius)’ (est $1.8 – 2.5 million) a 1976 blurred homage to the volcano by Gerhard Richter went for $1.3 million.

The excitement, however, was clearly generated by the newer art, with Gursky’s enormous 1999 print (from an edition of six) ‘Klitschko’ (est $250-350,000) of a crowded boxing arena selling for $460,500 to a bidder who artnet.com identified as New York dealer Stellan Holm. Bidding was also strong for two paintings by Neo Rauch. The first, ‘Gegenlight (Backlight)’ from 2000 featured green-capped men working in a surreal factory and was quickly pushed beyond its $100-150,000 estimate to sell for $196,500. Rauch fans had a second chance toward the end of the sale on a smaller canvas, ‘Lokal’ a dreamlike scene in which a shattered office roof rises upwards in pieces. Estimated at $50-70,000, the winning bidder paid $136,000.

Even as several audience members began to drift out of the auction room, bidding remained strong at the end for the final lots, including six untitled paintings on tin panels and boards by Barry McGee (est $20-30,000), which sold for $47,000 and a set of metal, plastic and neon letters spelling ‘Stardust’ by Jack Pierson (est $40-60,000) which went for $158,000. If Phillips hoped the word would be a fitting end to a magical sale, the house was probably disappointed. But on the other hand, the final lot of the week’s first sale at Sotheby’s, a wall sculpture spelling ‘Vicious’ by Tim Noble and Sue Webster in pink spiky fairground reflector caps and bulbs, was not the final word on the market either. Neither perfect nor disastrous, the sales proved that collectors weren’t willing to go out on a limb, but would still pay for quality.