“A Degas sculpture last night fetched a record 13.3 million pounds ($19.2 million), while other high- value works were rejected, at the first international auction- house test of the art market in 2009. … This month’s evening auctions of contemporary art at Sotheby’s and Christie’s International are estimated by the auction houses to fetch at least 31.6 million pounds, a decline of 78 percent” from last year.