Munchs Vampire sold for $ 38.2

Vampire Kiss

The second-priciest lot, one of the few works with a handful of aggressive bidders, was Edvard Munch's 1894 dramatic ``Vampire,'' with a flame-haired maiden either kissing or biting the neck of her man. The buyer, who bid by phone, was a U.S. collector, according to Sotheby's.

The painting had previously been on loan to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Washington's National Gallery of Art. The Norwegian painter, famous for ``The Scream,'' has been a recent force at the auctions. In May, Sotheby's sold Munch's brightly colored 1902 ``Girls on the Bridge'' for a record $30.8 million. ``Vampire'' fetched $38.2 million from an anonymous phone bidder, exceeding the $30 million estimate and becoming one of the evening's few jolts of bidding action.

For Norwegian readers - look at Dagbladet.no

Sotheby's failed to sell a third of the lots at its Impressionist and modern art auction last night in New York, the latest sign that worldwide financial distress is undermining demand for trophy paintings and sculpture.

Just 64 percent of the 70 lots found buyers, the lowest rate for an Impressionist evening sale at Sotheby's since May 2001. The $223.8 million tally was a third below the $338 million low estimate. Christie's International holds its Impressionist and modern art sales tomorrow and Thursday nights.

The market just corrected,'' said John Good, a director at Gagosian Gallery, as he and about 800 others departed Sotheby's cavernous white-walled salesroom.