Hong Kong autumn art auction results mixed, with a Gerhard Richter selling for below its low estimate, a Zao Wou-Ki unsold and Yayoi Kusama up and down
- Seven of the 10 most expensive works sold by Christie’s went for less than their minimum presale estimated value, a trend repeated at Phillips and Seoul Auction
- Works by Gerhard Richter and Joan Mitchell were among the star lots, one Yayoi Kusama work beat estimates but others didn’t, yet new artist records were set
Big-ticket items failed to excite buyers at art auctions in Hong Kong this week, with many failing to reach their estimated values while others were left unsold or pulled from sale.
At Christie’s 20th and 21st century art sales, which were held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on November 30 and December 1, seven of the top 10 works by price sold failed to meet their minimum estimated value at the hammer (before fees).
At Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, held in association with mainland Chinese auction house Yongle, the three top works which sold for more than HK$10 million (US$1.28 million) all failed to reach their minimum presale estimates.
Abstraktes Bild (774-1) (1992) by Gerhard Richter, considered one of Germany’s most important contemporary artists, which was being auctioned for the first time, sold at Phillips at a hammer price (before sale commission) of HK$75 million, shy of its low estimate of HK$80 million. And an absentee bidder snatched Nara’s Nachtwandern (1994) at a hammer price of HK$15.5 million, under its low estimate of HK$16 million.
The top-selling piece in the Christie’s sale, Untitled (1966-67) by Joan Mitchell, an American female artist whose work was making its debut at Christie’s auctions in Asia, was sold at a hammer price of H$70 million, below its presale estimate of between HK$80 million and HK$120 million.