Overview
RESULTS
Sotheby’s Hong Kong 40th Anniversary Evening Sale was a fitting achievement to celebrate Sotheby's 40 years in Asia. More than 700 people filled the salesroom to capacity and bidding from 25 countries drove the total to HK$1,132,470,000 / US$145,188,462 (estimated at over HK$660 million / US$85 million*) - the highest total for any comparable sale in Asia, more than doubling the previous record**.
Five bidders competed for more than 15 minutes for Zeng Fanzhi’s The Last Supper before the work sold for HK$180,440,000 / US$23,273,151 and set a record for a work of Asian Contemporary Art and for the work of a living Chinese artist. The sale also set records for ten other artists including Zao Wou-ki, Liu Ye and Walter Spies.
*Estimates do not include buyer's premium.
**Previous record of any comparable sale in Asia: HK$492,660,000 / US$63,306,810.
OVERVIEW
To mark our 40th Anniversary in Asia, we are delighted to announce our celebratory Evening Sale, which has been carefully curated to present over 60 modern and contemporary Asian works of art of superb quality. Highlights of the sale includes works by such eminent artists as Wang Yidong, Chu Teh-Chun, Zeng Fanzhi, Liu Ye, Walter Spies and Ronald Ventura, among many others. We are particularly thrilled that the Sale will include seven museum-quality Chinese modern masterworks from a ‘Distinguished Private Collection’, including Zao Wou-Ki’s large-format 15.01.82 (triptych) – its first appearance at auction, Sanyu’s rare oil-on-canvas Goldfish and Wu Guanzhong’s representative work from the 1970s The Lu Mountains. We are also proud to announce that it has once again been entrusted by Baron and Baroness Guy and Myriam Ullens de Schooten, renowned collectors and philanthropists based in Switzerland, to present to the market two important Chinese masterpieces – Red Flag 1, an important political realist work by Chen Yifei, and The Last Supper, the largest work in renowned Mask series by contemporary Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi. Each of the works from the Collection is imbued with great political and cultural significance, and represents a significant achievement within the career of each artist. Appearing for the first time at auction, and having been exhibited in many major exhibitions, these two masterpieces’ appearance provides an unprecedented opportunity for discerning collectors worldwide to acquire acknowledged icons of modern and contemporary Chinese art.
With the highest pre-sale total ever presented for an Evening Sale of its kind in Asia, this auction promises to be a fitting and memorable anniversary celebration. We look forward to sharing this extraordinary event with you. Happy Anniversary!
Overseas Highlights
New York
13 - 16 September | 10am - 5pm
For more information on travelling exhibition details, please click here.
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