8 December: Update

Some sales news from the weekend reported by the Art Newspaper:

-Gerd Harry Lybke of Eigen+Art said he has sold 80 percent less than last year, but sold Neo Rauch's Der Altar (2008), for 'well over' $100,000 and a painting by Tim Eitel
-Gertraud Presenhuber sold Mark Handford's large bronze Black Candle (2008) for $185,000 to a European collector
-Barbara Gladstone sold Anish Kapoor's In Out (2008), for a price in the high six ­figures
-The Lisson Gallery also sold a Kapoor, for $1 million.
-The Project sold Julie Mehretu's huge How They Rise How They Fall (2008), for $700,000 to a European foundation
-Luhring Augustine sold Pipilotti Rist's shelf-installation, Enlight My Space, (2008) for $95,000 to a private Swiss ­collector
-Strina Gallery from São Paulo sold three 'ladder' sculptures (each at $300,000) by Cildo Meireles
-Max Hetzler sold Mona Hatoum's mesh Cube (2008) for €160,000

And weekend updates from Bloomberg:

-New York dealer Joan Washburn had seven Robert Rauschenberg collages, consigned by comedian Lily Tomlin and priced $150,000 to $550,000. None were sold by Friday.
-Zach Feuer sold eight Jules de Balincourt paintings with prices ranging from $24,000 to $65,000
-Los Angeles dealer David Kordansky sold three sculptures by Aaron Curry for $38,000 each

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Looks like it's a similar story to Frieze so far at Art Basel Miami Beach, the first major fair since the full extent of the economic crash became clear: slow and steady sales, but certainly not the stagnation or gallery-killing that some had feared.

At the VIP preview yesterday, lines were shorter and collectors were taking longer to make up their minds, reports the Miami Herald. Visitor numbers may be down, '[b]ut there were still plenty of European accents heard [and] two-cheek kisses doled out' – a perpetual source of awkwardness in transatlantic cultural exchanges.

Some sales reported by the Miami Herald: -Local philanthropist Adrienne Arsht bought a large swinging – but silent – bell by Kris Martin, priced at $250,000
-New York gallerist James Cohan reported three sales by mid-afternoon
-Emmanuel Perrotin sold one of the two works by Iranian artist Farhard Moshiri in his booth – which has nothing else in it – for $250,000
-Christophe Van de Weghe sold two small Warhols for $22,000

Meanwhile Bloomberg spotted Julian Schnabel and Calvin Klein wandering the fair. Klein said he prefers antiques to contemporary art since they are 'more affordable'. William Acquavella ambitiously hung a $7.5 million Picasso painting of a man in a yellow hat along with a $2 million Marlene Dumas painting.

Artinfo's Judd Tully reports the following sales:

-an Alexander Calder sterling silver necklace from 1941 sold to an American collector for $450,000
-Richard Gray sold at least three new works by David Hockney in color inkjet print on paper from an edition of 25 for $9,500 each
-Palm Beach/Southampton collectors Ted and Ruth Baum bought Auge (Eye), (1963–64) by Otto Piene at New York's Adler & Conkright Fine Art for below the asking price of $85,000, plus a piece by Yayoi Kusama from Barbara Mathes for around $100,000
-Hauser & Wirth sold a Jason Rhoades piece from 2004 for $250,000, a Mary Heilmann painting from 1996 for $550,000, and an untitled Wilhelm Sasnal painting

The Art Newspaper noted 'packed aisles' at the ABMB opening yesterday, and reported pre-irrational exuberance levels of sales:

-Daniel Buchholz sold one piece from its inventory early on
-Blum & Poe of LA sold 70 percent of its stand by 5.30pm, including works by Mark Grotjahn, Matt Johnson, Friedrich Kunath, Dave Muller and Chiho Aoshima – all to American collectors
-Gagosian Gallery sold six works by 5pm, including an Ed Ruscha, Woman on Fire (1990), two Richard Princes and a piece by Anselm Reyle
-Deitch Projects sold Beatific Barack (2008) by Kurt Kauper for $65,000