Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) had a great night this week, tripling the performance of competitor Christie's (OTC: CRUPF). But, it didn't come soon enough to help the company's third quarter results.

The auction house suffered from the art market slump that was exacerbated by the global financial crisis, posting a net loss of $57.8 million (89 cents a share). This is worse than the $47 million loss (73 cents a share) it delivered a year earlier. Three analysts that Bloomberg surveyed expected a loss of 29 cents a share. Revenue was off 41% to $44.9 million for the quarter.

An embittered Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) has turned in its first quarterly profit in a year, showing signs that the worst of the art market slump may be over. The company, which has seen contemporary art auction prices fall 76.2% from May 2008 to today, reported a decline of 87% in earnings for the second quarter, but company CFO William Sheridan says that the worst of this market is behind us. Sell-through rates are up, with more inventory moving likely to help with sagging revenues.

But commission revenue seems to be headed in the wrong direction. For Q2, Sotheby's reported commission revenues at 21.3%, up from 41% year-over-year. Unfortunately, this isn't the measure you want to go up. Lower-priced pieces tend to have higher commission rates, meaning that the auction house's Q2 performance was dragged down by less desirable inventory.

According to The Wall Street Journal, industry observers are predicting that the recent explosive growth in the art market could be reversing.

The Journal reports: "The sheer volume of works planned for sale is fueling the nervous buzz. Christie's has estimated the works it will have on the block at its major London sales in October at $154 million -- compared with the $83 million it made at those sales last year and $33 million in 2005. Sotheby's is selling 387 works at its London auctions next month, compared with 254 last year and 206 the year before."

Subprime woes and reduced Wall Street bonuses may have reverberations in the art market. Last week I wrote that hedge fund honchos are getting cheap -- no longer shelling out for the pricey real estate like they once did.

It looks like the art market could get very weak. The combination of hedge fund/private equity bosses becoming suddenly tight-fisted, and the potential for a supply glut could spell trouble.

But so far, the stock market doesn't appear to be worried. Shares of Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) are pretty close to an all-time high, but have exhibited great volatility during past periods of economic weakness. After reaching into the $40s in 1999, shares of the auctioneer sank into the single digits in 2002, perhaps aided by a price-fixing scandal.

In November 1962, a U.S. collector shelled out a measly $250 for an Andy Warhol paint and ink and portrait of Marilyn Monroe. "Lemon Marilyn" was one of a series of 13 paintings Warhol created in the immediate wake of Monroe's August 1962 death. Auctioneers with London's Christie's (LSE: CTG) said Monday that the unnamed collector is now looking to cash in this investment at 60,000 times its original value just 45 years later, as the painting is expected to fetch $15 million or more. Such a price tag is certainly not out of the question -- the "Orange Marilyn" painting was sold for $16.3 million last year.

Reportedly, the 1962 transaction occurred at the gallery in New York where Warhol held a one-man show that featured eight of his Marilyn paintings. If you'd like to view before you buy, "Lemon Marilyn" will be on public display at Christie's until tomorrow, and will go on sale at auction May 16 in New York.

While art collectors are profiting from Marilyn decades after her death, the blond bombshell herself remains a bankable commodity. On Forbes' 2006 list of top-earning deceased celebrities, Ms. Monroe ranks ninth, with her estate banking $8 million during the year. Ironically, she did not achieve millionaire status until after her death.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.