Sotheby’s sets record with HK$4.2bn at Hong Kong autumn sales
Sales in Hong Kong considered a barometer of demand from China for expensive artworks and luxury goods
Sotheby’s celebrated its 40 years of business in Asia by raising a better-than-expected HK$4.2 billion ($542 million) in Hong Kong, a record for the global auction house’s autumn sales in the city.
Sotheby’s biannual sales in Hong Kong are considered a barometer of demand from China and elsewhere in Asia for some of the world’s most expensive artworks and luxury goods. As many as 16 records were set at the five-day event.
Among the highlights was Zeng Fanzhi’s painting “The Last Supper” - inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s work of the same name - which sold for $23.1 million, setting a record for a piece of Asian contemporary art.
The final result was hailed as a success by Sotheby’s, exceeding its forecasts of some $370 million for the more than 3,500 lots on offer. The amount was almost double the $280 million Sotheby’s sold at its spring Hong Kong sales in April.
The result demonstrates the importance of Hong Kong as an international selling centre
“We’ve taken the pulse of the Asian art market - it’s racing and we are racing with it,” Sotheby’s Asia chairman Patti Wong said in a statement, adding that the result “demonstrates the importance of Hong Kong as an international selling centre”.