Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring 2011 Asian contemporary art sales – results

HONG KONG CONTEMPORARY ASIAN ART AUCTIONS

After Sotheby’s record-breaking Autumn 2010 sales, the art and business worlds have been waiting to see what Spring 2011 would bring for the auction house. Were records for contemporary Asian art set again? We bring you top lot lists and our tweets from the day.

Auction scene, 4 April Contemporary Asian Art Sale, Hong Kong (Spring 2011). Image courtesy Sotheby's.

There were two Asian art sales that included contemporary pieces: Contemporary Asian Art (4 April, 5:30pm), which included Chinese, Korean and Japanese art; and Modern & Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings (4 April, 10:00am), which included work by Filipino, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Singaporean artists.

Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings

Tripling the sale estimate of HKD36 million/USD4.6 million, the Modern & Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings sale fetched a total of HKD108 million/USD13.8 million, according to a Sotheby’s press release. Filipino artist Ronald Ventura was the star of the auction, with his work Grayground selling for HK$8.4 million/USD1.1 million after a “bidding war.” Other record-setting artists included Hendra Gunawan, Barrioquinto, Samsul Arifin, Nguyen Gia Tri and Indieguerillas.

“Bidding opened at HKD300,000 and after around fifty furious bids, [Ronald Ventura's] Grayground eventually sold at an astonishing price at HKD8.4 million / USD1.1 million, which is over 24 times its high estimate to a phone bidder,” says Artdaily.org of the auction.

Ronald Ventura, 'Grayground', 2011, graphite, acrylic and oil on canvas, 152.5 x 396 cm. Image from interaksyon.com.

Of the 149 lots on offer 21 remained unsold at the close of the sale. The two contemporary artworks that made it into the top ten lots list announced by Sotheby’s are:

Sotheby's Spring 2011 Sale: Modern & Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings

Ronald Ventura (Philippines) World record for contemporary Southeast Asian art World record for the artist at auction	Graygound	Price (HKD/USD) 8,420,000/1,079,487	Estimate (HKD) 220,000 - 350,000	Asian private
I Nyoman Masriadi (Indonesia)	Juling (Cross-Eyed)	Price (HKD/USD) 3,620,000/494,103	Estimate (HKD) 2,000,000 - 3,000,000	Asian private

Click here to browse the Sotheby’s catalogue for more prices and lot details from the Spring 2011 Hong Kong Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings sale.

“Hong Kong has proved to be a winning location for Sotheby’s Southeast Asian art department since it moved its auctions to the harbor city in Spring 2008 after twelve years in Singapore, with many collectors choosing to fly in for the sales,” says ARTINFO of Hong Kong sales of Southeast Asian art.

Contemporary Asian Art

According the 4 April, 2011 press release from Sotheby’s, the Contemporary Asian Art sale achieved HKD182,911,500/USD23,450,192 and set a record for a work from Zhang Xiaogang’s “Bloodline” series and also set a record for Li Songsong.

AsianSaleTweet1

Of the 133 lots on offer 18 remained unsold at the close of the sale. We list the top ten lots below as announced by Sotheby’s:

Zhang Xiaogang (China) *World record for Zhang Xiaogang's "Bloodline" series	Bloodline - Big Family	Price (HKD/USD) 56,660,000/7,264,103	Estimate (HKD) 35,000,000 - 40,000,000	Asian private
Zeng Fanzhi (China)	Untitled No.11	Price (HKD/USD) 10,740,000/1,376,923	Estimate (HKD) 4,500,000 - 6,500,000	Asian private
Liu Ye (China)	The Rietveld-Schröder House at Nightfall Specially For You (Olympic 2008)	Price (HKD/USD) 7,820,000/1,002,564 4,820,000/648,718	Estimate (HKD) 5,000,000 - 6,000,000 3,500,000 - 5,000,000	Anonymous
Zhou Chunya (China)	Kahn and Xi'er	Price (HKD/USD) 6,620,000/848,718	Estimate (HKD) 1,200,000 - 1,500,000	Asian private
Xia Xiaowan (China)	How Sad	Price (HKD/USD) 5,060,000/648,718	Estimate (HKD) 2,200,000 - 2,800,000	Asian private
Li Songsong (China) *World record for the artist at auction	China Past (Diptych)	Price (HKD/USD) 4,220,000/541,026	Estimate (HKD) 2,800,000 - 4,000,000	Asian private
Takashi Murakami (Japan)	Scarlet Heart	Price (HKD/USD) 3,620,000/464,103	Estimate (HKD) 3,000,000 - 3,500,000	Asian private
Fang Lijun (China)	No.17	Price (HKD/USD) 3,620,000/464,103	Estimate (HKD) 700,000 - 900,000	Asian private
Yayoi Kusama (Japan)	The Milky Way (Triptych)	Price (HKD/USD) 3,620,000/464,103	Estimate (HKD) 2,000,000 - 2,500,000	Asian private
Yue Minjun (China)	Hats Series - Acrobatics	Price (HKD/USD) 3,620,000/464,103	Estimate (HKD) 3,000,000 - 3,500,000	Asian private

Zhang Xiaogang, 'Bloodline - The Big Family No.3', 1995, oil on canvas, 179 x 229 cm. Image courtesy Sotheby's.

Click here to browse the Sotheby’s catalogue for more prices and lot details from the Spring 2011 Hong Kong Contemporary Asian Art sale.

The Clean Air Charity Auction, a joint venture between Sotheby’s and Hong Kong’s Clean Air Network, was also held during the 2011 Spring sale period. It bought in a sale total of HKD2,228,000, according to the Sotheby’s website.

CharityAuction1 KN