The sound of wallets closing...?

Koons Egg Sculpture To Test Art Market Waters

(Source Forbes.com)
A high-priced work by a contemporary star goes up for auction at Sotheby's. Will it sell?

When Sotheby's puts a seven-foot-wide magenta and turquoise Jeff Koons sculpture of an Easter egg on the block in New York May 12, will the international auction house wind up with egg on its face?
It's possible.
"I don't think it's going to sell," predicts Todd Levin, a former Sotheby's ( BID - news - people ) specialist who runs New York art advisory firm Levin Art Group. The auction house estimate of $6 million to $8 million is much too high given the worldwide economic crisis, says Levin. Plus the sculpture--a shiny, oversized replica of an Easter egg covered in foil and topped with a bow--is not one of Koons' more important works.
Only the auction will tell whether Levin is right. The sale is part of a run of auctions at Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips that are viewed as a test of the international market for Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art.
Koons, 54, became famous during the 1980s for his bold, post-modern works that included vacuum cleaners encased in Plexiglas boxes; a life-sized porcelain sculpture of Michael Jackson with his pet monkey, Bubbles; and a series inspired by Koons' then-wife Cicciolina, an Italian porn star. Those works, created between 1982 and 1990, are the most valuable of Koons' oeuvre, says Levin.
Over the past half-dozen years, the Koons market has been supported by big art-world players such as publisher Peter Brant, Manhattan real estate magnate Aby Rosen and Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk, all of whom own works by Koons and therefore have a vested interest in making sure his prices stay high. As does Koons' dealer, Larry Gagosian, who sold the egg to Loeb in the first place.
Read Article... It's a chicken or the egg matter.