By Scott Reyburn and Katya Kazakina Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Lot after lot by contemporary-art stars such as Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince failed to sell in London last night as Phillips de Pury & Co's auction raised less than a third of its expected total.
The 70-lot sale fetched 5 million pounds ($8.6 million) with fees, against a lower estimate of 18.6 million pounds. Forty-six percent of the lots failed to find buyers.
``It's a turning point,'' said Nicolai Frahm, a London-based art adviser. ``The estimates were fairly high and the financial markets are so tough at the moment.''
