A Growl from the Bear?

Auctiongoers may be bidding briskly (see preceding post) but today's Wall Street Journal reports that winning bidders have become slow pays:

Sotheby's accounts receivable -- the money owed by buyers who purchased art at auction -- more than doubled to $835 million in 2007, according to Sotheby's annual report. That is the largest total in Sotheby's history, and points to possible stress in an art world where Warhol and Rothko have become the ultimate luxury brands and the newly rich have been paying record prices for "wall power."

More than $520 million of Sotheby's increase in receivables was in the fourth quarter, following the summer's financial turmoil. The accounts-receivable number doesn't include $6 million in "doubtful accounts," or money that Sotheby's said probably won't be repaid.