The International Herald Tribune’s Souren Melikian sets the scene on Tuesday’s very positive sale of the Julius Held collection that made $2.5 million and was 85% sold by lot:

Christie’s was selling on Tuesday a motley collection of works of art from the late collector Julius Held, who had donated his finest possessions to the National Gallery, Washington and other institutions. The collection, ranging from medieval sculpture to Old Master paintings and even to a few 20th-century paintings, was not particularly great.

Yet, of the 68 lots that came on the block, 58 were sold, adding up to $2.54 million. The 85 percent success rate would have looked good at the height of the market.

Christie’s Auction Nets a Surprising $2.54 million (International Herald Tribune)