Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Christie’s 2.8bn HKD Spring Sale in HK Is Down 13%

June 2, 2016 by Marion Maneker

Zao Wou-ki, Untitled (Vert Emeraude) 70.6m HKD
Zao Wou-ki, Untitled (Vert Emeraude) 70.6m HKD

Christie’s various sales this week in Hong Kong, including the 30th anniversary sale meant as a valedictory bow for three decades in the nation-state, totaled 2.8bn HKD which was 13% lower than the previous year’s sale. Although Chinese works of art continue to retreat as an auction category—and there was a little unpleasantness as a collection of more than 100 scrolls said to be by Huang Yongyu were withdrawn from a sale because the artist denied their authenticity—paintings from many collecting categories continue to find strong, receptive markets in Asia.

This is still quite a new phenomenon but the South China Morning Post caught a bit of action during the sales that suggests painting now has pride of place in Hong Kong’s sales:

[A]n oil painting by Adrien-Jean le Mayeur de Merpres, the Belgian artist who was the Gauguin of Bali [,] Women Around the Lotus Pond, which features semi-naked women making merry in a tropical setting, last sold for HK$17.1 million including fees in 2007.

This time, Pylkkanen opened the bidding at HK$15 million. The first offer, by phone, was HK$21 million. That drew a gasp across the packed hall and caused other interested parties to regroup.

It finally went to Alexander Tedja, the Indonesian property developer and avid art buyer, who made the final bid of HK$26 million. During a period of correction in the art market – and we are still in one, given China’s slowing economic growth and the instability of the financial markets – many people expect contemporary Asian art to suffer because of the absence of the sort of speculative demand that drove up prices immediately after the global financial crisis.

But Asian contemporary art sales appeared to be holding up, especially where the works were of solid provenance. Hong Kong gallerist and collector Johnson Chang Tsong-zung put 30 pieces of Chinese contemporary art up for sale with Christie’s and most found buyers, including Zeng Fanzhi’s Meat No. 3 (Nativity), which sold for HK$30.4 million, including fees. Among the few lots left unsold was a painting by Liu Dahong, who has a solo exhibition at Chang’s gallery this month.

Christie’s Hong Kong spring auction sales fall 13pc; Chinese works of art fare poorly (South China Morning Post)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Leon Who?Leon Who?
  • Spanish Collection Looted During Legal DisputeSpanish Collection Looted During Legal Dispute
  • Sotheby’s Announces Private Sale of Rare DC Comics from the Collection of UK Music Producer Ian LevineSotheby’s Announces Private Sale of Rare DC Comics from the Collection of UK Music Producer Ian Levine
  • Liz Taylor, Connoisseur: Wins One, Loses OneLiz Taylor, Connoisseur: Wins One, Loses One
  • Artcurial Gives Buyers Another Shot at BanksyArtcurial Gives Buyers Another Shot at Banksy
  • The Corcoran Gets a Monet But Huguette Clark's Art Goes to CaliforniaThe Corcoran Gets a Monet But Huguette Clark's Art Goes to California

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Sotheby's Evening Cont. Sale, London
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Basquiat's Last Girlfriend
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Cave Painting Porn Discovered
  • Christie's to Sell $12m Yves Klein to Benefit The Water Academy
  • Aboudia, Zemba Luzamba, Dickens Otieno Anchor Contemporary African Art Sale at Artcurial in Marrakesh
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor