Van Gogh: The latest sub-prime victim
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It’s hard to avoid the contagion metaphor when writing about the the mortgage crisis. But its polluting effects are creating surprising casualties.
Sotheby’s art auction house had no luck unloading Van Gogh’s ‘The Fields (Wheat Fields),’ pictured here, valued between $28 million and $35 million. One likely reason: the turmoil in the credit markets, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
Last night’s New York auction took in $269.7 million, one-third less than the low estimate of $401 million with commissions. Sotheby’s stock plunged 35% today.
‘The sale’s lackluster performance suggests that key fears related to subprime/credit/housing issues may be playing out in the U.S,’’ analyst Dana Cohen of Banc of America wrote to clients.
Call it the ‘trickle up’ theory.
-- Posted by guest blogger Annette Haddad