Facing a lawsuit over the sale of Sam Francis's 1954 painting Grey, Christie's is defending itself with a "blind spot" argument. Collector Gregory Callimanopulos sued the house last week, claiming that auctioneer Christopher Burge improperly reopened bidding on the painting after accepting his $3 million telephone bid. But Christie's filed papers on May 22 claiming that the eventual winner of the painting, Joanne Heyler, director and chief curator of the Broad Art Foundation, had raised her paddle prior to the hammer, and that Burge hadn't seen her because she was seated in the front row of the room and off to the right. "Around the same time" that the auctioneer was hammering down, a Christie's employee pointed out Heyler's paddle, the house says.

Christie's says it even used instant replay to make sure it was correct. Sandra Cobden, the house's senior counsel and head of "dispute resolution," watched multiple videos of the sale, from several angles, and determined that Heyler's paddle went up before the hammer went down. But Callimanopulos doesn't seem impressed, at least not yet; he is seeking a ruling that the work is his, for $3 million, plus commissions, lawyer fees, and other costs.

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