Two rare calligraphy pieces by the late Hong Kong street artist Tsang Tsou-choi to be auctioned at a Sotheby's sale tonight are expected to bring a record price for a work by the man known as the King of Kowloon.
The pieces could bring bids of more than HK$500,000 at the auction at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, but both the auctioneer and a long-timer advocate for Tsang hope the works remain in Hong Kong.
Calligraphy on Utility Box No 1 and No 2 will be auctioned during the second part of the sale of the Ullens Collection, a collection of Chinese contemporary artworks gathered by Belgian couple Guy and Myriam Ullens.
The two works, each featuring Tsang's signature ink calligraphy on a 1.6-metre-high grey metal box, resemble the iconic street calligraphy he painted on electrical junction boxes across Kowloon. However, most of these street sites have since been painted over by the authorities. Only four remain intact, including one on a pillar at the Star Ferry pier in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Both lots to be auctioned tonight have a pre-sale estimate between HK$200,000 and HK$300,000, but they are expected to sell for more than the record for a Tsang work. That was set in 2009 when a calligraphy piece painted on canvas sold for HK$500,000, far exceeding the pre-sale estimate of HK$70,000.
The utility box pieces were executed in 2000 and were originally owned by Hong Kong's Hanart TZ Gallery. Sotheby's said the works were conceived and prepared for an exhibition in Taiwan. However, the boxes were not shown at that exhibition and the gallery confirmed that the Ullens later acquired them.
Also being auctioned tonight is Tsang's calligraphy on a 2.3-metre long piece of cotton cloth. This piece has a pre-sale estimate of between HK$150,000 and HK$200,000.
