International artists who are currently down

The Wall Street Journal recently tracked stock of various international artists to know who have been left behind even as sales rise and the recovery takes place. It points out how sometimes collectors get spooked by an artist, even one firmly ensconced in the art-history textbooks. Here’s a list of those who are down:

Edvard Munch
Do collectors love this Norwegian artist when he's not screaming? Weeks after Lehman Brothers floundered in 2008, Munch's ‘Vampire’ sold at Sotheby's in New York for $38.1 million. The work, considered a masterpiece, was also replete with the artist's dark and twisted signature imagery. Since then, Munch works featuring happier subject matter have stumbled at auction.

Damien Hirst
The British artist, who famously sold off $200.8 million worth of his own art at Sotheby's in London, hasn't turned up much at major auctions since. The hiatus may serve his market in the long run, since the appearance of rarity tends to whet collectors' appetites. But for now, his switch from ubiquity to virtual absence is hard to miss.

Kees Van Dongen
Last fall, this Dutch master of Fauvism seemed poised to enjoy a surge when Sotheby's sold his creamy spare portrait, 'Young Arab', for a record $13.8 million. Russian buyers were flocking then to his emerald-and-navy portraits of women. Since then, however, Russian collectors seem to have shifted back to homegrown favorites. In all, seven paintings by the artist have gone unsold this auction season, up from three last year.

Pierre Bonnard
Between 2005 and 2006, at least 23 paintings by the French artist sold within or above their estimates at the auction houses' major evening sales. Demand took a sharp turn last fall, however, after Sotheby's got no bids for Bonnard's ‘Nude Profile’, which was priced to sell for at least $1.25 million.

Richard Prince
During the peak years of 2006 and 2008, prices for his work soared. But last year, his auction sales total fell to $11.7 million, likely an indication that fewer sellers wanted to risk offering Princes that might not sell.