Asian Art Records Tumble at Christie's Auction

Source: Reuters

This undated handout picture released by Christie's on May 24, in Hong Kong shows Chinese contemporary artist Zeng Fanzhi's Mask Series 1996 No.6 .The painting sold for 75,367,500 Hong Kong dollars (9,662,114 USD) setting a new auction record for the artist. (AFP/CHRISTIE'S IMAGES)

A work by Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi sold for $9.5 million on Saturday, a new auction record for an Asian contemporary artwork, at auctioneer Christie's first evening sale of such art in Hong Kong.

Other records also fell as the auction brought a dash of black-tie glamor to Hong Kong's art market, considered the world's third most important auction hub after New York and London.

Affluent Asian collectors were served champagne and canapes before bidding in a packed auction hall. The results suggested the Chinese art market remains resilient despite financial market jitters.

"There is a worldwide enthusiasm," said Jonathan Stone, Christie's International Business Director for Asian Art.

"If you look at the list of buyers in the top 10, there were Asian private buyers, European private buyers, there was a very international flavor to the sale," he said.

The highlight of the evening was Zeng Fanzhi's large-scale 2-by-3.6-metre work entitled "Mask Series 1996 No 6", which sold for almost triple its pre-sale estimate.

Several telephone bidders helped push the price to $9.5 million including the buyer's premium, making it the most expensive Asian contemporary artwork sold at auction, Christie's said.

The previous record for an Asian contemporary artwork was for a set of 14 "gunpowder" drawings by Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang which sold for HK$74.25 million last November.

Other notable results included Chinese contemporary artist Yue Minjun's "Gweong-Gweong", sold for $6.85 million, a new auction record for the artist.

Zeng and Yue are among a group of hot Chinese contemporary artists, also including Cai Guoqiang and Zhang Xiaogang, whose works have sold for $6 million or more.

A remarkable surge in demand for Chinese art in recent years has been spurred partly by newly affluent Chinese collectors.

Auction records also fell for individual artists from across Asia, including Indonesia, South Korea and India.

New Delhi-based Subodh Gupta was the sole non-Chinese artist to break into the top 10 Asian contemporary works sold, with his "Saat Samundar Paar (10)" (Across the Seven Seas) fetching $1.2 million. 

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Editor: Carrot Chan