U.K. artists lost favor this week at contemporary auctions by Sotheby’s Holdings Inc. and Christie’s International in London. Collectors bid up trendier names, leaving some works by Damien Hirst and Sam Taylor-Wood unsold and marking down art by Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin.

At Sotheby’s yesterday, a 1998 Taylor-Wood photograph of a fat nude, bought from London’s White Cube gallery, had a low estimate of 30,000 pounds ($53,367). Auctioneer Oliver Barker offered it at about 17,000 pounds and drew no bids. Emin’s 2002 nude on an embroidered blanket had the same estimate, and sold for a hammer price of 25,000 pounds to a telephone bidder — one sixth below estimate.

Posted: 10|27|05 at 8:38 am. Filed under: UK News.