Kim Whan-ki’s painting to be auctioned in Hong Kong
A piece created before Kim’s untimely death during the artist’s stay in New York will be up for sale
By EJ BaeA painting by Korean abstract artist Kim Whan-ki (1913-1974) is up for sale in Hong Kong on May 28.
Seoul Auction said Sunday that Kim’s black dotted painting “4-VI-74#334” will be auctioned at its 22nd Hong Kong sale. Created in the year Kim died during his stay in New York, the estimate price for the artwork is 2.2 billion won.
“The painting has a heart-shaped icon which represents the artist’s yearning for his mother’s love,” a Seoul Auction official said.
The 86-by-120.6 centimetre painting is expected to draw the highest bidding at the auction.
At an auction held in Seoul last month, Kim’s “Tranquility 5-IV-73 #310” with his signature style of blue dots, sold for 6.55 billion won (US$5.74 million), making it the most expensive Korean artwork ever sold. It broke the previous record of 6.32 billion won (US$5,649,638) set by the same artist during an auction held in Hong Kong last November for “12-V-70 #172.”