Hong Kong Evening Art Sales Reach $184.6 Million Despite Market Headwinds

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Modern and contemporary art evening sales held by Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips in Hong Kong from September 28–30 generated a combined $184.6 million, a notable increase from the $164.9 million achieved during the spring season. However, unlike the spring auctions, which featured two“white-glove” sales, the autumn season saw only one, at Christie's.

Christie's achieved its perfect sell-through rate after withdrawing two significant lots before the sale: Jonas Wood's Wood Grain Pot 4 (2016) and Cheong Soo Pieng's 1926 Paysage (Landscape). Sotheby's initiated the auction season on Monday with a single-owner collection sale of Joe Lewis's holdings of works by Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, which realized $8.7 million. Of the 15 works offered, 80 percent sold above their high estimates. The top lot from this collection was Foujita's 1949 oil-and-ink painting Le rêve (Hommage à La Fontaine), which sold for $3.38 million against an estimate of $510,000–$765,000.

Despite an initial strong performance, including Hu Xiaoyuan's Wood – Rift I setting a new auction record for the artist at $212,080, buyer caution emerged during Sotheby's main marquee sale. The season's anticipated top lot, Mark Rothko's 1965 Chapel-series masterpiece Untitled (Plum and Dark Brown), estimated between $9.94 million and $16.3 million, was withdrawn before bidding. Without the Lewis collection, Sotheby's evening sale totaled $87.3 million with an 88.5 percent sell-through rate. Including the Lewis sale, Sotheby's reported a 91 percent sell-through rate and a total of $124.3 million, its highest since fall 2023. The main auction's top lot was Yoshitomo Nara's 1994 painting Present, which sold for $9.13 million.

At Christie's on Tuesday night, strong underbidding was observed for European Old Masters and established contemporary Asian artists. Peter Paul Rubens's Landscape with Willows (1577-1640) sold for $1.5 million, 150 percent above its low estimate. Ada Tsui, Vice President for Christie's Asia Pacific, highlighted the intense bidding for a work by Liu Ye, noting a strong competition between a Hong Kong-based collector and a Western buyer.“The underbidding activity was remarkably strong, and the Western collector went all out to fight for that piece,” Tsui said.

However, performance for other marquee lots was mixed. Yayoi Kusama's 2011 A-Pumpkin (YHP) sold for $5.99 million, 2.08 percent below its low estimate. Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (1991) hammered at $3.568 million, 26 percent below its low estimate, selling for $4.47 million with premium. Cristian Albu, Head of Auction and Private Sales for Christie's Asia Pacific, commented to ARTnews that bringing this particular Richter work to the evening sale was“a bit of a risk,” as it marked the first time Christie's presented an oil on wood painting by the artist in Asia. He also noted that Asian collectors have a deep familiarity with Richter's oeuvre, citing the Marian Goodman collection sale in New York in April where buyers from Asia acquired or underbid on over half of the seven abstract paintings offered.

Ultimately, Christie's 20th and 21st-century evening sale generated $92.6 million, a 28 percent increase year-on-year, though this result was supported by 14 additional lots compared to last year. Yuki Terase, cofounder of advisory firm Art Intelligence Global, commented on structural challenges in the top-tier secondary market, citing an influx of choices for buyers. She noted that while many collectors can comfortably spend up to a few million dollars, the buyer pool“shrinks dramatically” for eight-figure and above prices. Jean-Michel Basquiat's Ancient Scientist (1984), which sold at Christie's for $9.81 million, became the most expensive work sold at auction in Asia this season.

The overall market in Asia is navigating an uneven recovery, influenced by factors such as mainland Chinese equities dropping to a 13-month low this month and the Japanese yen dipping to a multi-decade low in June. In contrast, South Korea's economy gained traction from strong semiconductor exports, and capital from the Middle East continued to flow into financial centers like Hong Kong and Singapore.

We previously reported:

Christie's Hong Kong will hold its 20th- and 21st-century marquee auctions on September 29-30, featuring major works by Basquiat, Kusama, and Zao Wou-Ki.

Sotheby's London achieved its highest-ever sale for modern and contemporary South Asian art, totaling $26.2 million and setting nine artist records.

Source: ARTnews

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