Claude Monet’s Nymphéas didn’t sell today at Christie’s but Picasso’s blue period portrait did, even if it sold for a number that didn’t add any excitement to the art market. That could have been a good thing. The rapid escalation of prices since the 2010 auction season opened in London this February has been at odds with the rest of the world’s economic news. Even so, there were a lot of strong sales at Christie’s today when £152.98m of Impressionist and Modern art was sold.