Larasati’s Singapore auction was held over the weekend and though the S$1.77m total was slightly lower than the previous sale, the greatly reduced number of lots on offer meant that average prices are rising in this market. The top lot of the sale was Hendra Gunawan’s Buffalo Cowboy (above) which sold for S$288,000.

Strong prices were achieved for Arie Smit, Lee Man Fong and Takashi Murakami who had a several prints in the sale make prices in the five figures. Indonesia’s Straits Times covered the sale which confirmed the continuing importance of the Indonesian market:

More than 100 people attended the event, and S$1.8 million in sales were generated. In August last year, Larasati sold 135 lots for almost $2 million. […] Art collector Martha Gunawan, 58, flew in from Jakarta for the auction. […] She said she likes to attend auctions in Singapore as they often feature works which are hard to find in the market.

“Auctions like this one by Larasati are also a good platform to spot market trends. As a collector, I tend to focus on works by masters. I feel many contemporary art works are over-priced, while some works by old masters such as Gunawan are still under-valued,” she said.

Indonesian Master Leads the Way at S’pore  Art Auction (Jakarta Globe)