Christie’s 20th/21st Century Evening Sale in Hong Kong Totals $73.3 M.

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The primary public sale held by Christie’s at its new Asia headquarters in The Henderson constructing in Hong Kong final September was a buoyant affair, carried by pleasure for the glitzy locale, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. That inaugural night sale, for Twentieth- and Twenty first-century artwork, introduced in $113.4 million (with purchaser’s premium), a extra subdued haul in comparison with previous increase years, however nonetheless a stable consequence.

On Friday, the home held its second Twentieth/Twenty first century public sale in its new digs, the primary aligned with this week’s Artwork Basel Hong Kong, which opened to VIPs Wednesday. In accordance with a post-sale launch, greater than 7,000 folks visited the headquarters to absorb the heaps forward of the night sale, lots of them on the town for Artwork Basel.

Whereas the room was crammed to capability, the tempo of Friday’s night gross sales was a bit slower, totaling $73.3 million (together with purchaser’s premium), with few surprises. The sale was stated and achieved in simply over an hour. Although it carried a 95 p.c sell-through charge on 43 heaps, most hammered on the low-end of their pre-sale estimates, with the mixture hammer value sitting 6 p.c above the sale’s low estimate. 

Cristian Albu, Christie’s deputy chairman and head of latest artwork for Asia Pacific, stated in a post-sale press convention that these figures indicated the works on supply have been “responsibly priced for this market,” regardless of “some challenges in sourcing.”

That didn’t dissuade Christie’s Asia Pacific president Francis Belin from describing the gross sales on the convention as “sturdy.”

The star of the night was the eighth lot, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1984 portray titled Sabado porla Noche (Saturday Night time), which bought to an Asian collector for $14.5 million, close to the excessive estimate of $16.1 million. (The work had final bought in 2019 at Christie’s London for $10 million.)

“This actually reveals the sustained urge for food in Asia for prime masterpieces,” Christie’s head of night gross sales Ada Tsui stated of the Basquiat’s sale.

The outcomes for 2 Yayoi Kusama works, each titled Pumpkin, have been combined, with the primary of the night hammering at $5 million (above its excessive estimate) and the second at $1.8 million (simply above the low estimate).

The sale additionally noticed a number of works by European masters do effectively, together with Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s 1892 panorama, LaPromenade au bord de la mer painted in 1892. Previously owned by the Met, it bought for $4.5 million, comfortably above the $3.6 million excessive estimate. René Magritte’s La Clairvoyance (1962), from the artist’s signature “leaf-trees” physique of labor, bought for $3.7 million, effectively above its $3.2 million excessive estimate. A second Magritte, Reverie de Monsieur James (1943), depicting a rose bush in full bloom, went for $6.1 million, squarely with its estimate of $5.4 million and $7 million.

“The curiosity for these works amongst Asian collectors was a great shock, proving that our specialists are doing issues proper: they knew what to incorporate within the sale, they usually may learn the market and the style of our collectors effectively,” Belin stated. 

Whereas these works did elicit some aggressive bidding amongst collectors—Belin specified that the bidders have been from Asia—the room was relatively quiet, and bidding was not too aggressive. A Taiwanese collector who was current at this week’s truthful however didn’t want to disclose his identify commented that “there have been some very fascinating items” however nothing particularly that caught his eye.

“We’re nonetheless in a market the place provide is a bit bit constrained,” Belin stated, marking a fair measure from his earlier optimism concerning the sale. “We’ve to have a look at the low estimate of this night’s sale and tomorrow, and the Shanghai gross sales subsequent week.” He famous that this week’s sale was akin to final 12 months’s spring night sale. The autumn sale, alternatively, was “much less comparable” as a result of it had two masterpieces, one every by van Gogh and Monet. The novelty of The Henderson salesroom’s inauguration additionally added vitality to the room.

Among the many Asian masters that did significantly effectively there was a bronze sculpture by Taiwanese artist Ju Ming, who died in 2023. From his “Taichi Collection” and titled Single Whip (1988), the work fetched $1.6 million, greater than doubling its estimate. The endurance of Dansaekhwaartists was additionally confirmed, as three works from the Korean postwar motion did effectively. Lee Ufan’s East Winds (1983), with the artist’s attribute blue-and-white summary marks, hammered at $778,000, eeking simply above its excessive estimate. Park Search engine optimisation-bo’s Ecriture no. 60-73 and Lee Bae’s Situation du Feu White Line F-4 each bought near their excessive estimates at $940,000 and $179,000, respectively. Simiarly, three works by late summary painter Zao Wou-ki hammered at barely lower than their excessive estimates, proving a need for his work however at decrease costs than have been beforehand achieved.

Mainland China collectors have been the principle presence on the ground, with most gross sales going to bidders from there, adopted by Hong Kong bidders, “which was one other shock,” in keeping with Belin.

The financial slowdown in China has been noticed with equal measures of curiosity and concern up to now two years by the worldwide artwork market. Patrons’ appetites haven’t diminished, however their style for dangerous investments appears to have. In different phrases, based mostly on the night’s outcomes, Chinese language collectors now have a tendency to purchase fewer items, extra oriented towards blue-chip artists and different protected buys.

“There was a ardour for protected decisions, so to say,” Belin stated.

That takeaway mirrored the sales results at Artwork Basel Hong Kong throughout its VIP preview days. There, blue-chip and mega-galleries noticed success with their priciest works, whereas small and medium-sized galleries described difficulties closing offers.

Collectors “are extra conservative and extra selective than earlier years,” Wendy Xu, White Dice’s managing director for Asia, advised ARTnews on Wednesday. “Earlier than, they could purchase two or three or 4 works. Now they only need to purchase one they usually need to ensure they’re shopping for the very best quality work.”

One can anticipate that phenomenon to proceed by the weekend’s different public sale gross sales.