Picasso and Modigliani portraits make an impression at Sotheby’s auction

Against gloomy media forecasts for the global art market and Britains impending EU referendum, yesterday's (21 June) Impressionist and Modern evening sale at Sothebys proved, once again, that the top end of the art market rarely reflects the state of the outside world.The figures paint a happy picture for the auction house: a 90.7m hammer total (103.3m with fees) against an estimate of 81.8m-99m, with an 89% sell-through rate. Out of 27 lots, 11 hammered above the upper estimate and only three