THE ARTS

Bad Market News: New York’s spring auction season got off to a devastating start Monday night when Sotheby’s sold only 40 of 77 contemporary artworks offered. The news for Andy Warhol fans was particularly grim. Only two of 10 Warhol paintings consigned by Frederick W. Hughes, the artist’s longtime agent, found buyers and those two works commanded less than their low pre-sale estimates. “Old Telephone,” valued at $600,000 to $800,000, was sold for $552,500; “Portrait of Princess Diana,” estimated at $60,000 to $80,000, brought $57,500. “We were disappointed,” said Sotheby’s Lucy Mitchell-Innes, noting that buyers were “selective” American private collectors and institutions. Dealers did not participate, she said.