A Mao by Warhol sells for below estimate at Hong Kong auction, casting doubt on Asian appetites for Western contemporary art

A portrait of Mao Zedong by Andy Warhol sold for less than its pre-sale estimate and a work by Keith Haring failed to sell at Sotheby’s modern and contemporary art evening sale in Hong Kong on Sunday, casting doubt on Asian collectors’ appetite for top-end Western contemporary art.

Auction houses started bringing contemporary Western art to Hong Kong last autumn in response to the Asian auction market surpassing the US market and the growing participation of Asian bidders in New York and London sales. Early results of the move were promising. Asian collectors bought works by the likes of Haring, Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat at a special Sotheby’s sales curated by Korean pop star T.O.P. last October (though a Warhol failed to sell).

Christie’s also claims strong demand for the Western art it offered in its “Loaded Brush” private sale in November.

But on Sunday, demand for Western art valued at above US$1 million was tepid. Warhol’s Mao, executed in 1973 and one of his many works of the former Chinese leader, was estimated at HK$90 million (US$11.6 million) to HK$120 million (excluding fees) before the sale, and Sotheby’s laid the groundwork to help it sell. The eye-catching portrait in red was one of three works in the evening sale backed by a guaranteed, irrevocable bid; for the Mao portrait, Sotheby’s chief executive officer Tad Smith bid HK$84 million on behalf of a client.