Summer is slow for the art auction houses – and anyone else who has to step outside into the oppressive heat. But, in air conditioned offices around the world, Sotheby's and Christie's are getting ready for the September auctions in New York. The first will be the Christie's Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean auction on September 16 and 17, followed by Contemporary Art on September 23 and 24 at Sotheby's.

The catalogues haven't been published yet, but a little bit of information is starting to slop out. On November 4, for example, Sotheby's will be bringing several Impressionist paintings from the Paul Durand-Ruel collection under the gavel. These works were purchased directly from the artists and have not left the collection since being bought. Durand-Ruel (who died in 1922) supported several of the Impressionist artists. The collection consists of nearly 12,000 pieces – with 1,000 by Claude Monet, 1,500 by Auguste Renoir, 400 by Edgar Degas, 800 by Camille Pissarro and 200 by Edouard Manet.

The economy seems to be turning, albeit slowly. And, stronger pieces are coming to auction. This combination could be the first sign that the art market is on its way back, though it's going to take a while to reach 2007 levels again. For now, let's be patient and just hope for an exciting, full and active autumn auction season.

Paintings by Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso may have sold for $20 million, but the overall take of $61 million was off 74 percent from last year's Christie's Impressionist art auction. Forty-four lots came under the gavel last night with results good enough to beat the minimum estimate by ₤250,000 ($400,000) ... but you have to remember that the low end of the estimate is already low-balled. Even though expectations were roughly met, it was a tough night in London.

Last year, 81 lots fetched more than $250 million, close to $100 million of which came from Monet's "Le Bassin aux Nympheas." Monet was among the stars at Christie's this year, too, but at a fraction of the amount. As expected, the number of high-profile pieces coming to auction is down because the auction houses are no longer guaranteeing minimum prices.

Only 68 percent of the lots brought under the gavel moved this year mostly in the range of $450,000 to $900,000. In this "middle market," a third of the lots failed to sell, and only two were able to beat their high estimates. Usually, Christie's is able to hit a sale rate of 80 percent for this sector.

So, what does this art auction teach collectors across the market? Hitting low estimates is no sign of recovery. Lower standards that are barely met is far from an upswing. Managing expectations is far from art market managing returns.

It's no surprise that last year's art market looked nothing like that of 2007. Last year, the top 10 artists by sales racked up $1.7 billion and accounted for 20 percent of the global art market on 1.5 percent of transactions. This slip in the big revenue number is a lot different from 2007, in which the top 10 brought in $1.8 billion, a year-over-year gain of 50 percent, according to ArtPrice.

Andy Warhol was the problem last year.

The top artist of 2007 fell substantially last year. In 2008, only $236.7 million in Warhol sales occurred – compared to $420 million the year before. As a result, Warhol slid from the #1 spot to #3, and Picasso regained the apex. Francis Bacon moved from #3 to #2 on sales of $256 million. Unbelievable growth of 514 percent in his work from January 2005 to January 2008 turned abruptly, and the artist finished last year down 48 percent ... not that he'd give a tinker's damn about it.

Despite the economic challenges, the price of admission grew. Last year, sales in a particular artist at auction had to reach $91.8 million to hit the big time, up from $87 million in 2007, $59.6 million in 2006 and a comparatively paltry $33.7 million in 2005.

Take a look at the scorecard after the jump.

As my colleague, J.P.S. mentioned when talking about an upcoming Christie's contemporary art auction, the economy may be sluggish but we don't think the art market is headed for a crash quite yet. Proof of that could be sen yesterday when Christie's auctioned off "Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil" a painting of a bridge by Impressionist Claude Monet. The painting brought in $41.181 million, setting a new record for the popular French artist and besting the estimate of $35 million to $40 million. The previous record for a Monet painting, $36.5 million for his 1904 "Nympheas," was set just last year. No word on who the buyer and seller are.

[Thanks, Rob!]