By: Crystal Wong | Photos: Justin Cheng 28 Apr, 2021 | Wed | 19:30
While the global art industry is still in recovery mode, Hong Kong has proven to be a resilient market despite the ongoing travel ban. Led by the modern and contemporary art sector, in particular, the first half of the Hong Kong spring auction that took place in April already set the bar high for the season.
Among the top ten seven-figure works, which totaled over US$178.6m, Western artworks secured four spots, against two Chinese antiques on the list, highlighting Asia’s burgeoning appetite for Western art.
Nine out of the top ten lots were auctioned off at Sotheby’s Hong Kong sales, with the house s rival Christie’s marquee sales being just around the corner, keen collectors and art enthusiasts alike are bound to see more high-caliber artworks on their way.
By: Crystal Wong 18 Apr, 2021 | Sun | 20:43
With travel restrictions still ravaging the art industry, auction houses are pulling out all the stops to work out a new normal for their auction lineups, including auctions that feature a mix of genres from different eras.
Earlier tonight, saw Sotheby’s cross-category evening sale in Hong Kong. Touted by the auction house as one that spans a thousand years of history by great artists from the East and the West.
This season’s modern and contemporary sales were opened with this diverse sale, which achieved a total hammer of HK$317m (US$40.8m), just scraping past the presale low estimate of HK$292m. Leading the five-lot sale was one of Pablo Picasso’s final matador series works, which edged out Chinese Matisse Sanyu and sold for HK$140m (US$18m) after fees.