AUCTIONS

House on the Block: New York’s spring auction season is in a recessionary slump, but Sotheby’s is hoping to cash in big in Britain and Europe. Sotheby’s International Realty is currently accepting offers--of $110 million or more--for Casa Batllo, an eight-floor residence in Barcelona by visionary architect Antonio Gaudi. Sotheby’s London on June 25 and 27 will auction a $20-million group of Impressionist, modern and contemporary paintings from the collection of Chester Beatty, who served as a back-room adviser to Winston Churchill.