Stealing some of the limelight is a collection of valuable western masters that includes Pablo Picasso's Dora Maar au chat, Edgar Degas' La Danse Greque and Andy Warhol's $, which are on display here but will be sold in New York on May 3.

For those who want to see these exclusive art works, there are public exhibitions throughout the auction period, up to this Sunday.

For Chinese contemporary art, the spring sale will include 133 works by 87 artists, with media ranging from oil painting and photography to sculpture. According to the auction house, the sale is expected to fetch $4.7 to $6.7 million in this popular category. 'The market for Chinese contemporary art is extremely strong,' says Evelyn Lin of Sotheby's Hong Kong. 'We have witnessed exciting demand at our past three sales.'

So-called special highlights include a group of symbolic and abstract works by Zeng Fanzhi and Zhou Chungya. Zeng is known for his ability to express his experience of life on canvas.

In Andy Warhol, Zeng deliberately manipulates flying lines to distort the original narrative composition. 'I've learnt over the years to express my reflections on a subject, a form or an emotion through the development of lines, colours and forms, instead of merely portraying an image,' he says.

Zhou draws influences from various western modern art schools: from Cubism, Expressionism, to Fauvism.

The Robert Chang Collection marks the 80th birthday of the dealer and collector. He has consigned 58 Chinese modern paintings from his Yun Hai Ge collection, including 30 works by Qi Baishi.

Qi's paintings continue the tradition of 'character and spirit above simple appearance' in an innovative style. 'The excellence of a painting lies in its being alike, yet unlike,' Chang once said of Qi's work.

Also not to miss is the theme sale on Qianlong - Sovereign, Warrior, Patron.

1 Expo Drive, Wan Chain, free.

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