Recap: Art Auctions in London, Yazzy's www.williamverdult.com

According to the Wallstreet Journal on-line, at the New Bond Street headquarters of Sotheby's, more than 600 people crowded the auction-room aisles and milled in the street Friday night, vying to watch the first major art auction since the credit crisis hit global financial markets and the U.S. dollar weakened further.

This unusually large crowd saw a contemporary-art auction where many buyers played it safe. There were few bidding wars and most of the art sold at prices within or below the auction houses' presale estimates -- unlike the soaring sums that have marked many auctions in the past few years.

"There's not the same irrational exuberance that we once saw," said Mary Hoeveler, the managing director of Citigroup's art-advisory service, who was in London with clients this week. "Bidders were very measured."

The first big art sales of the season take place in October, when collectors flood into London for the Frieze Art Fair -- a showcase for contemporary art from 150 galleries from around the world -- and contemporary-art auctions held by Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips de Pury. After a summer of financial uncertainty, dealers and collectors have been calling these October sales Judgment Week. And some of those observers, looking ahead to November auctions in New York, see signs here that the heady art market may finally be slowing down.

But any fears of an art-market crash in London proved unfounded. Both Sotheby's and Christie's met -- but didn't exceed -- their estimates for total sales at their big events over the weekend. Sotheby's had estimated the value of works at its auction Friday evening at £28 million to £40 million ($57 million to $81 million), and it earned about £34.8 million, including commissions. Sotheby's sold 84% of its works -- lower than some of its recent contemporary sales, where often more than 90% of works have sold.

Christie's major auction of post-war and contemporary art yesterday evening brought in £31.9 million, with 85% of the works sold. That was within the total estimated value of £27 million to £37 million. Asked about the strength of the market, Jussi Pylkkanen, president of Christie's Europe and also auctioneer for the sale, said he believed the auction was "the strongest sale of the week" and noted Chinese contemporary works sold particularly well.

Tobias Meyer, world-wide head of contemporary art at Sotheby's and the auctioneer at Friday's sale, says he doesn't see the market slowing. "There's been a surge of interest from foreign buyers that makes the problem with credit in New York look very small -- the highest-end sales have been taken over by European and Russian buyers anyway," he said.