Welcome back to Wall Power, where we’re discussing the narrative of the art market’s benchmark event: the New York sales in May. I’m Marion Maneker.

The importance of these sales is two-fold. First, they exist to distribute art from sellers to buyers. Second, they provide a Milky Way of pricing data points that the rest of the market uses to negotiate private transactions. In many seasons, these sales give us clear signals. This year, not so much. With the prospect of the U.S. elections suppressing interest in consigning to the November sales, we may have to wait until 2025 before we see the art market show some organization and momentum. I’ll get into all of this and much more below.

But first …

• All’s well that ends well: When I walked into Christie’s 20th Century evening sale on Thursday night, C.E.O. Guillaume Cerutti, who greets attendees at the entrance to the auction house, embraced me saying, “Let me give you...