COMING ATTRACTIONS

A street scene painted by Vincent van Gogh goes up for auction today at Christie’s in London, and while auctioneers and art experts don’t expect the kind of sums the artist’s “Sunflowers” attracted three months ago, Christie’s expects the bidding to soar past the $10-million mark. “Sunflowers” was sold to a Japanese insurance firm in March for a record price of almost $40 million. “It shouldn’t fetch more than $12 million to $15 million,” said London art dealer Martin Summers of the Lefevre Gallery. Experts agree that today’s sale could indicate whether prices are realistic reflections of paintings’ merits or unpredictable caprices of wealthy collectors.