Although Frieze Los Angeles shined some California sunlight onto the art market last week, conditions were somewhat gloomier in London tonight (6 March), as the Modern and contemporary evening sale at Sotheby’s—the first major auction of the year—did little to dispel the trade’s enduring sense of wariness. The 60 lots to cross the block achieved £82.2m (£99.7m with fees)—within the revised estimate of £74.8m to £106.5m but considerably down from the £136.9m (£172.6m with fees) the auction house made from its equivalent evening sale in London last March. (Estimates, like hammer prices, exclude fees.) Spread over a ... (full story)