HK sees record Asian art sales
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
Tom Mitchell from Hong Kong
The hammer has come down on a record sales season for Asian art after collectors and investors splashed out on new acquisitions in spite of turmoil in financial markets.
Christie's booked total sales of $270.4m at its five-day autumn auction in Hong Kong which closed last Thursday -- the highest sales recorded for an Asian season and 28 per cent above last year's figures. Including its spring auction, Christie's recorded total sales of $466m for the year in Hong Kong.
Edward Dolman, Christie's chief executive, said: "You can never say never but at the moment there is no weakness at all. The prices were exceptional. Inevitably, at some point there's going to be a levelling off. But we believe there has been a structural change."
Mr Dolman said there had been an influx of new purchasing power from China, India and other emerging economies to complement the industry's traditional reliance on New York and London-based buyers.
Sotheby's, Christie's main rival, also enjoyed bumper sales at its Hong Kong autumn auction in October. It raised more than $330m at its spring and autumn sales, up from $245m last year. The auction house cited "a notable increase" in participants from mainland China as both buyers and unsuccessful bidders across a range of categories.
Christie's recorded multiple category and artist records. A set of 14 images, rendered in gunpowder and ink by Cai Guo-Qiang, a China-born artist who lives in New York, was sold to an anonymous buyer for $9.5m, setting a record for a contemporary Chinese artist.
The fever for contemporary paintings at recent auctions has overshadowed other categories, including Chinese artefacts held by overseas buyers. Many of these are now being repatriated by patriotic-minded buyers.
Last month, in a transaction brokered by Sotheby's, Stanley Ho, the Macao gaming tycoon, paid $8.84m for a bronze horse head sculpture taken from the imperial Summer Palace in Beijing. The bronze is now displayed in the entrance lobby at the Grand Lisboa, Mr Ho's flagship Macao casino.
However, one of the signature pieces from Christie's autumn auction -- a 14th century bronze figure of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, offered by a European collection -- did not meet its reserve price, which the auction house then paid in its role as guarantor. "We put an aggressive estimate on it," said Mr Dolman. "We own it now and are genuinely happy to have it."
Syndication arrangements with FE
The hammer has come down on a record sales season for Asian art after collectors and investors splashed out on new acquisitions in spite of turmoil in financial markets.
Christie's booked total sales of $270.4m at its five-day autumn auction in Hong Kong which closed last Thursday -- the highest sales recorded for an Asian season and 28 per cent above last year's figures. Including its spring auction, Christie's recorded total sales of $466m for the year in Hong Kong.
Edward Dolman, Christie's chief executive, said: "You can never say never but at the moment there is no weakness at all. The prices were exceptional. Inevitably, at some point there's going to be a levelling off. But we believe there has been a structural change."
Mr Dolman said there had been an influx of new purchasing power from China, India and other emerging economies to complement the industry's traditional reliance on New York and London-based buyers.
Sotheby's, Christie's main rival, also enjoyed bumper sales at its Hong Kong autumn auction in October. It raised more than $330m at its spring and autumn sales, up from $245m last year. The auction house cited "a notable increase" in participants from mainland China as both buyers and unsuccessful bidders across a range of categories.
Christie's recorded multiple category and artist records. A set of 14 images, rendered in gunpowder and ink by Cai Guo-Qiang, a China-born artist who lives in New York, was sold to an anonymous buyer for $9.5m, setting a record for a contemporary Chinese artist.
The fever for contemporary paintings at recent auctions has overshadowed other categories, including Chinese artefacts held by overseas buyers. Many of these are now being repatriated by patriotic-minded buyers.
Last month, in a transaction brokered by Sotheby's, Stanley Ho, the Macao gaming tycoon, paid $8.84m for a bronze horse head sculpture taken from the imperial Summer Palace in Beijing. The bronze is now displayed in the entrance lobby at the Grand Lisboa, Mr Ho's flagship Macao casino.
However, one of the signature pieces from Christie's autumn auction -- a 14th century bronze figure of Guanyin, the Chinese goddess of mercy, offered by a European collection -- did not meet its reserve price, which the auction house then paid in its role as guarantor. "We put an aggressive estimate on it," said Mr Dolman. "We own it now and are genuinely happy to have it."
Syndication arrangements with FE