Though the house took in $156m, less than Sotheby's and below its own pre-sale estimate, it had clearly worked with consignors to lower reserves on a number of pieces, which led to livelier bidding.
In Britain "known consignors" are approved by transport department officials who inspect every aspect of the supply chain.
The auction house admits it is avoiding Mr Hirst's work because it can't meet its consignors' price expectations.The average auction price for a Hirst work in 2008 was $831,000.
In 2010, the Indiana Auctioneer Commission stripped him of his auction license after complaints that he had not paid consignors for sales; at the time, Mr. Kruse countered that buyers had not paid him.
Unlike Christie's, Sotheby's had not tried to ring-fence its more important lots with third-party guarantees to consignors, except for one portrait of a "Woman with Hat, Head and Shoulders" by Picasso.
The two world giants, Christie's and Sotheby's, try hard to get a bigger piece of the global art cake by enticing consignors through ever more ambitious estimates.
Michael Byrne, the owner of Park Stud, one of Ontario's leading breeding operations and thoroughbred sale consignors, said that the horse people "are quite frightened".
Through his lawyer, Daniel R. Wotman of Great Neck, N.Y., Mr. Rabizadeh declined to comment, but Mr. Wotman said, "Auction houses and consignors need to comply with the law".
Sometimes his consignors ask not to be identified, but the information can leak out in strange ways.
That disappointment itself underlines the phenomenal hubris now driving art consignors, prepared to release gems only if they are promised huge estimates and assorted reserves.
The anonymous consignors, he added, include descendants of a New York Yacht Club member and a Corsair chief steward, and a "great-great-something" of Morgan himself.
