Vincent van Gogh. Die Alyscamps, Allee in Arles (1888).

Vincent van Gogh. Die Alyscamps, Allee in Arles (1888).

The first night of the bustling spring auction week is underway, as Sotheby’s concluded a somewhat unsteady sale last night of Impressionist and Modernist masterpieces that achieved a final of $368,344,000, well over the auction house estimate of $270,000,000. The final tally saw 14 of the 64 lots go unsold over the course of the evening, which will be the last major Impressionist and Modern sale of the first half of the year on U.S. soil.

Fernand Léger, La Roue Bleue, État Définitif (1920), via Art Observed
Fernand Léger, La Roue Bleue, État Définitif (1920), via Art Observed

Betting heavily on its impressive selection of works from the collections of both Joseph Stone and the Goldwyn family, the sale had boasted an initial estimate of $270 million, a goal the auction house managed to exceed handily despite the number of passed works late in the sale. The sale got off to a steady start, as P