29.May.2007 : Chinese Art Increasing in Popularity
Prices for works by contemporary and avant-garde Chinese artists hit record highs at Christie’s spring auctions in Hong Kong on Sunday, in a sign of sustained strong demand. Yue Minjun - known for his paintings of absurd, grinning faces - saw his “Portrait of the artist and his friends” fetch HK$20.48 million ($2.62 million), his highest price at auction.
In a packed Hong Kong auction hall, bursts of spirited bidding - including live online bids - sent works by other top artists to new highs.
Zao Wou-ki’s vivid coloured abstract “14.12.59″ named after the date it was painted, fetched HK$29.44 million ($3.8 million) - almost five times its pre-auction estimate.
A pair of bronze figures by Taiwan-born sculptor Ju Ming, called “Big Sparring”, made HK$14.88 million ($1.9 million) - also a new high for the artist’s work at auction.
“There’s been no letdown, the (Chinese art) market’s still going very strongly,” said Jonathan Stone, a Christie’s international business director for Asian Art.
Chinese art prices have boomed in recent years, fuelled by a robust global economy and nouveau-riche buyers from China drawn to their cultural heritage and who see art as a solid investment.
But one star lot - Xu Beihong’s “Portrait of a lady”, of a Singaporean woman seated in a flowing “cheongsam” dress fell short of its pre-auction hype - fetching HK$24.96 million ($3.2 million).
Another rare oil painting by Xu from a similar period had fetched $9.2 million at a Sotheby’s sale last month - making it the most expensive Chinese painting ever auctioned.
The new records came on the opening day of Christie’s spring auctions in Hong Kong, which run from May 27-31.
The day’s most expensive painting was “Scenery of Northern China” a snowy, meditative landscape by Wu Guanzhong, which sold for HK31.7 million ($4.05 million) in a hall conspicuous for its large contingent of mainland Chinese bidders and spectators.
Christie’s expects to sell HK$1.1 billion of paintings, ceramics, jewellery and watches in its current Hong Kong sales - significantly less than the HK$1.64 billion total sales tally at its previous Hong Kong auction series last autumn.
What is RSS?