Five contemporary Asian ink artists to invest in

Hong Kong is home to new exhibitions featuring contemporary ink art – an area that is becoming increasing popular with international collectors. Earlier in October, a record price was paid for a piece of art by the late modern Japanese calligrapher Inoue Yuichi.

His 1966 ink-on-paper, Dream, was sold for HK$1.5 million (US$192,060) at the Contemporary Ink Art: Confluence auction held by Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Katherine Don, head of contemporary ink art at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, said the successful bid was nearly four times the original estimate. The total price paid for artworks during the auction, including buyers’ premiums, was HK$17.95 million.

In May this year, Chinese artist Qin Feng’s West Wind and East Water sold for HK$1.98 million – the highest price among artworks that went under the hammer for nearly HK$17.7 million – during the Chinese Contemporary Ink auction held by Christie’s Hong Kong.

These sales illustrate the increasing interest in contemporary ink art, although both prices are dwarfed by the HK$180 million paid at auction in 2013 for Chinese contemporary artist Zeng Fanzhi’s painting, The Last Supper.

Although the market for contemporary ink artwork is still in its infancy, an increasing number of Hong Kong auction houses, galleries and museums are now hosting exhibitions to cater to the growing number of collectors and enthusiasts.

“In each of our curated thematic auctions we continue to attract new buyers from around the world – on average, one in five buyers are new to Sotheby’s,” Don says. “This is very exciting for growing the awareness for such an important cultural part of art history today.”

The selling exhibition, Eternal Water, presented by Sotheby’s Hong Kong until October 30, is focusing on the works of the acclaimed Hong Kong-based painter Wucius Wong over the past six decades.