Two works by Zao Wou-Ki from the artists Hurricane Period, 22.6.63 and 24.10.63 were sold for a total of HK$100m at Phillips last week Image courtesy of Phillips
International auction houses are riding high on their Hong Kong Spring 2020 sales last week, after being postponed from April in a quixotic hope for a calmer world by now. Solid results defied the newly promulgated National Security Law slicing into the territorys autonomy and a third wave of Covid-19 infections reaching a record 52 new cases confirmed this week, as well as the global economic wariness.
“Finding ourselves up against the challenges of an unprecedented backdrop, we quickly adapted and evolved to connect with and serve our clients in ever more effective ways through digital communications", said Nicolas Chow, Sothebys Asia chairman, in a statement.
Last week, Sothebys held six art sales between 8 and 10 July, which totalled HK$1.7bn (US$220m), with an 86% sell-through rate. The figure is not far below the HK$1.82bn (US$232m) achieved for comparable sales in the halcyon days of spring 2019, before protests rocked Hong Kong and the pandemic overtook the globe. Christies four summer Hong Kong art sales on 10 and 11 July, including the citys portion of the Christies One sale, totalled HK$967.8m (US$125.5m), with combined a sell-through rate of 94%.
Bonhams Fine Chinese Paintings sale on 7 July netted HK$39m, and and HK$5m for its 10 July Modern and Contemporary Art sale. Phillips art sales on 8 and 9 July totalled HK$272m (US$35m), which marked “the highest-ever total for an auction series in this category for Phillips Asia,” noted Jonathan Crockett, the auction house's Asia chairman, and Isaure de Viel Castel, its head of 20th-century & contemporary art, Hong Kong, in a statement. “We have always taken pride in championing emerging artists alongside blue-chip names in our day sales and are delighted to have achieved six new auction records for artists who are newer to the secondary market.” These included HK$437,500 (US$56,438) for Philippines contemporary star Maria Taniguchi and HK$100,000 (US$12,900) for Map Offices Hong Kong Is Land.
Sanyu's Quatre nus sold at Sotheby's for HK$258m Image courtesy of Sotheby's
Several of the highest hammers came for Chinese-French painter Sanyu. Quatre nus sold at Sotheby's for HK$258 Million (US$33.3m), a record for his still lifes, and at Christie's White Chrysanthemum in a Blue and White Jardiniere for HK$191.6m (US$24.8m) and Leopard for HK$10.9m (US$1.4m). Christies also soldRead More – Source
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