© Luis Antonio Ruiz
On the heels of its Paris and London sale series, where a David Hockney’s portrait from London’s Royal Opera house made $16.8 million, Christie’s has announced another major evening sale to take place this season.
“20th Century: Hong Kong to New York,” a relay-style live-streamed auction, following the same format as Christie’s July ‘ONE’ sale will start in Hong Kong at 9 pm HKT / 8 am EST and move next to the house’s New York Rockefeller center location. The Hong Kong modern and contemporary art evening sale will take place just before the 20th Century art relay auction.
The Hong Kong portion with include highlights by leading Asian artists Zao Wou-Ki, Sanyu, and an example from Zhang Xiaogang’s “Bloodline” Series, alongside postwar artists like Andy Warhol. In the New York leg of the night, top works including Joan Mitchell’s monumental Trees (1990-91) and Pablo Picasso’s portrait of Dora Maar from 1940, alongside works by Claude Monet and Alexander Calder will also be sold. Christie’s has not yet confirmed estimates for the works slated for sale.
The dual Asia-New York sale coincides with the house’s upcoming Hong Kong and Geneva sale series, scheduled to take place from November 27 to December 5. The move marks an additional New York evening sale for the house’s fall season.
With the new evening sale, Christie’s has established another New York 20th century art sale week to the season, including live day sales of modern and contemporary art and a design sale titled “La Menagerie,” which will take place between December 2-4. First Open, an online contemporary art sale, will run from December 1-15.
Following changes to the auction calendar in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the top auction houses are breaking with the traditional schedule, now delegating remote evening sales throughout the season to allow buyers and consignors more flexibility. Christie’s was the first house to break with the fall sale calendar, holding a modern and contemporary evening auction on October 6 in New York, led by a T. Rex skeleton that generated $340.8 million.
The new maneuver follows Phillips announcement of its New York 20th Century art sale on December 7 and Sotheby’s addition of a late October modern and contemporary evening sale to its calendar this season.
