NEW YORK.- The December 3 sale of American Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture at Sotheby’s New York achieved $25,509,375. Auction records were set for nine artists, including Francis A. Silva, Robert Walter Weir, Aaron Draper Shattuck, John F. Francis, Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Birch, Franz Biberstein, Catharine Critcher and Alexander Loemans, in addition to a record for a work on paper by Norman Rockwell.

Dara Mitchell, Executive Vice President and Director of the American Paintings Department, commented, “Today our sale demonstrated that the American Paintings market is in a process of price recalibration. Interest was solid across the board, but there was noticeable resistance to current price levels. The sale certainly confirms that we need to be nimble in adapting to a continually changing economic climate.”