Christie’s Week of Sales in Hong Kong nets $310 million; 50 Lots sell for more than $1 million.
Christie’s holds a broad range of sales in Hong Kong from Watches to Ceramics to Contemporary art. The auction house’s highlights, records and market trends (as identified by their press office) after the jump
South East Asian Modern and Contemporary Art
SALE TOTAL: US$9.2m (HK$71.7m) – more than double its pre-sale high estimate
and +39% above Spring 2007.
THE HIGHEST TOTAL EVER AT CHRISTIE’S IN THIS CATEGORY
MULTIPLE ARTIST AUCTION RECORDS SET including: Hendra Gunawan, I Nyoman Masriadi, and Le Pho.
MARKET TRENDS: Records and strong prices were seen for both Contemporary (I Nyoman Masriadi, Geraldine Javier) and Modern (Le Pho, Hendra Gunawan) artists. Artists new to the auction market performed extremely well (Fx Harsono, Haris Purnomo).
Asian Contemporary & Chinese 20th Century Art
COMBINED TOTAL: US$104.6m (HK$813.8m) a 33% increase over Spring 2007
THE HIGHEST TOTAL EVER FOR THE CATEGORY WORLDWIDE
Series opened with the INAUGURAL EVENING SALE for both categories – a first for the category and a first for Asia.
NEW WORLD AUCTION RECORD SET FOR CHINESE CONTEMPORARY
ART: Zeng Fanzhi’s Mask Series 1996 No. 6 – HK$75.4m/US$9.7m (Lot 156)
NEW YUE MINJUN AUCTION RECORD set with Gweong-Gweong – HK$54.1m/6.9m (lot 157)
55 ARTIST RECORDS SET – 29 Japanese, 10 Indian, 5 Chinese, 10 Korean
ARTIST RECORDS INCLUDE:
o Contemporary: (Chinese) Zeng Fanzhi, (Chinese) Yue Minjun, (Indian) SubodhGupta, (Japanese) Aida Makoto, (Japanese) Hishashi Tenmyouya, (Korean)Hong Kyoung Tack
o Chinese 20th Century: Liao Chi-Ch’u
MARKET TRENDS:
o Notable was the exponential growth seen in the market for Japanese and Korean
contemporary art.
o The Contemporary Indian and Pakistani art section was 100% sold at HK$33m/US$4.2m – the highest ever in the category in Hong Kong. A Contemporary Indian art work appeared in the top ten Asian Contemporary Art Evening Sale (Subodh Gupta’s Saat samundar Paar (10) – HK$9.3m/US$1.2m), underscoring the strength of this category.
o Pan-Asian cross-buying continues to increase season after season.
Fine Chinese Modern and Classical Paintings
COMBINED TOTAL: US$31m (HK$241.1m ) – a 20% increase over Spring 2007
Chinese Modern Paintings total: HK$120.1m / US$15.4m
o Top Lot: Lot 1031,Wu Guangzhong, Old Wall – HK$7.9m/US$1.018m (image above)
Fine Classical Chinese Paintings total: HK$121m / US$15.5m
o Top Lot: Shitao, Floral Album – HK$17.7m/ US$2.3m
MARKET TRENDS: Bidding from private collectors from the People’s Republic of China was particularly strong, reflecting the continued high demand for quality works in this category.
