Jitish Kallat, Universal Recipient 1, estimate US$89,700-115,400 for Christie’s HK Spring Auction.
I Nyoman Mastiadi, Negosiasi(Negotiation) sold for US$217,948 at Sotheby’s HK Saled of Modern & Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings.

Spring Sales of Sotheby’s HK, 1st Asian Auction Week and Christie’s HK

Sotheby’s sale of Contemporary Asian Art at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre held at 6th April achieved a total of HK$66,434,00 /US$8,501,559, within pre-sale expectations of HK$59.1-82.9 million /US$7.5-10.6 million), and was 74% sold by lot and 81% by value. 57% of the sold lots achieved prices in excess of their high estimates. All five conceptual works by Chinese artists achieved strong results but the undoubted star of the group was Huang Yongping’s copper, iron, wood and cloth sculpture Sixty-Year Cycle Chariot. This sold for HK$3,380,000 /US$432,539, more than double the high estimate of HK$1,500,000 /US$194,000 and set a new auction record for the artist. Bowl of Pearls (Set of Two) by Ai Weiwei (lot 706) made HK$1,700,000 /US$219,381, again above the high estimate of HK$1,200,000 /US$155,000. Two works by Chen Zhen also exceeded their high estimates.
Nine works by a number of Contem-porary Hong Kong artists were presented at auction for the first time and they all performed strongly; the group made a combined total of HK$1,096,250 against a pre-sale estimate of HK$500,000-645,000. Yahoi Kusama’s Pumpkin fetched HK$2,720,000/US$348,078 against an estimate of HK$1.5-2 million /US$194,000-258,000 and established a new auction record for a sculpture by the artist.
Approximately 200 bidders attended the Asian Auction Week’s first day, 15th May evening and their bidding netted HK$17.33 million in sales (including premiums), with 77% of the 146 lots sold. The collaborative effort by four of Asia’s leading auction houses, K Auction, Shinwa Art Auction, Kingsley’s Art Auction and Larasati Auction aims to re-define the art auction landscape in Hong Kong and introduce rising stars from Asia. The highlight of the auction belonged to Lee Dongi’s Smoking, whose price of $224,200 (including premium) exceeded the mid estimate by 182%. Southeast Asian old masters also did very well and Bui Xuan Phai’s Hang Be Street, Hanoi and Affandi’s Self Port-rait were sold for $70,800 and $554,600 respectively (inclusive of premiums), at 171% and 140% above their respective mid estimates. Hiroto Kitagawa’s Miruko Hayakawa was highly sought after and after several rounds of active bidding, sold at $118,000 (including premium), 136% above the mid estimate.
Christie’s Evening and Day sales of Asian Contemporary Art on May 24 and May 25 in Hong Kong will bring together contemporary art from China, Japan, Korea and India. Leading the Evening Sale is Rebuilding the Berlin Wall: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 7 by Cai Guo-Qiang (estimate: HK$6-8 million / US$769,200-1,025,600), a work featured in New York’s Guggenheim Museum retrospective, “Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe,” in 2008. Among the important Chinese contemporary works offered in the May 25th Day Sale is Liu Ye’ Rising Sun (estimate: HK$800,000-1,200,000 /US$ 102,600-153,800), one of the highlights from an An Important Swiss Collection of Chinese Avant-garde Art, a collection of 18 contemporary works, including fine examples from Zhang Xiaogang and Fang Lijun in the Evening Sale.
From Yoshitomo Nara comes Over the Topper (estimate: HK$2.5-3.5 million/ US$320,500-448,700), a unique work that finely bridges installation and sculpture and is a rare example of a work created specifically for museum exhibitions. Hong Kyoung Tack- Van Gogh and a Robin Carried by a Storm (estimate: HK$550,000-850,000 / US$70,500-109,000) leads a strong selection of Korean contemporary works offered in the Day Sale. Among the highlights of Indian contemporary artists presented in the May 24th Evening Sale is Universal Recipient 1 by Jitish Kallat (estimate: HK$700,000-900,000/US$ 89,700-115,400).
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