Pool on 57th Street

Two standing rules of Manhattan's art mart (57th Street) were broken last week:

1) a major show opened in midsummer;

2) eleven art dealers jettisoned jealousies to make it a joint exhibition.

Taking a cue from Manhattan's dressmakers, the dealers said spaciously that their show was inspired "by the growing

SPHINX OF THE MIDDLE EAST, RENDEZVOUS Mr. Low declared war first.

realization that New York is today the art center of the world." The 242 pictures and pieces of sculpture, ranged round three rooms at the big, cool Fine Arts Gallery, proved nothing so spacious nor central. But each gallery stocked the show with its best artists, so the pool had plenty of fish to please everybody.

Unlike Manhattan's dressmakers, who know when to lure their patrons on with judicious price cuts, Manhattan's art dealers had not marked down their wares. Prices began at a modest $10 for prints but mounted fast to high-priced oils. First week's sales: $1,265 (out of a total valuation of $100,832)

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