Christie’s launches sale of Western art in Hong Kong to test Asian demand
Selection include works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, among others
Christie’s will hold its first major sale of Western art in Hong Kong this week to test demand in Asia for top, blue-chip names in art, with the hope that wealthy investors embroiled in market turbulences and the China downturn may perceive the best from the West as a safe bet.
The exhibition of works by Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, among others, will be held alongside Christie’s regular autumn auctions at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from today to November 28.
The sale, named “Loaded Brush”, will feature about 50 works of art, which are sourced from Europe and the United States, and have a total value of US$250 million (HK$1.9 billion).
Christie’s refused to disclose the prices, and unlike auctions, the transactions for the sale would be on a first-come-first-served basis and kept private.
“In the 20th century and contemporary arena, there are about 20 to 30 active individuals in Asia who have the capacity to regularly buy art at the US$50 million level,” said Brett Gorvy, its international head of post-war and contemporary art.