One highlight of the May auctions was the sale of ''Nature Morte au Melon Vert, '' a delicious still-life composition by the painter Paul Cezanne that grabbed the top price at Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern auction.
In one gallery, Xiao Yuncong's 1657 "Landscape" with its soothing, simplified forms in blue and green is displayed cater-cornered to Cheng Sui's monochromatic "Tall View of Streams and Mountains, " where short, vertical strokes infuse a monumental composition with a buzzing sense of life.