Major auction houses focus on ‘undervalued’ Hong Kong artworks amid economic downturn
Sotheby’s launches selling exhibition, while Christie’s will feature homegrown works to attract the Art Basel crowd
Auction houses are placing their bets on Hong Kong art amid the economic downturn as two leading players are emphasising affordable works which they believe have been undervalued in the market.
While Sotheby’s is hosting a selling exhibition, Christie’s will be promoting local artworks in a March sale that will coincide with Art Basel.
READ MORE: China’s economic slump set to hit art auctions in Hong Kong, insiders say
Prices of works available fall between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands – a fraction of prices for blue-chip pieces.
Rebecca Wei, president of Christie’s Asia, which is now in its 30th year in the region, told the Post that the macroeconomy, particularly China, was facing a lot of challenges, but a volatile financial market would affect mostly sales of works in the middle range, not top lots and those at entry-level prices.
Running until March 10 at Sotheby’s gallery in Admiralty is Next Destination: Hong Kong, the auction house’s first showcase dedicated to contemporary artworks by homegrown artists. Sixteen of some 50 works on show are not on sale and will be displayed at an event called Exhibition of William Lim’s Living Collection .
Works on sale include political works, such as Kwan Sheung-chi’s video piece A Flags-Raising-Lowering Ceremony at my Home’s Clothes Drying Rack (2007), which mocks the 10th anniversary of the 1997 handover.