“We didn’t need to take any dangers—the whole lot of excessive worth is third-party assured. I needed one thing secure, recent and uplifting—it’s been a tough, unusual yr for all of us.”
So stated Cristian Albu, Christie’s deputy chairman, head of Twentieth and twenty first Century Artwork, Asia Pacific, earlier than the primary night sale of Twentieth and twenty first century artwork on the public sale home’s grand new Hong Kong headquarters, which befell Thursday night (26 September).
Now will not be a simple time to promote artwork, anyplace, however the slowdown of shopping for from mainland Chinese language collectors has been a lot publicised and notably impacts these Hong Kong auctions. As Yuki Terase, a founding companion of the advisory agency Artwork Intelligence International, instructed The Artwork Newspaper earlier than the sale: “I discuss with Amy [Cappellazzo, her co-founder in New York] every single day and we change how the market is. I really feel the sentiment will not be that completely different globally, so it’s not Asia particular when it comes to individuals being cautious.”
However, she provides, exercise from Mainland Chinese language collectors has slowed significantly since Covid: “That’s as a consequence of geopolitical elements but in addition as a result of individuals received actually excited and purchased so much very quick at first after which slowed down. It’s inevitable for a brand new market to decelerate—no market continues to develop at a double-digit share yearly and China has hit that time. However does that imply there aren’t any collectors shopping for in China? I don’t suppose so. They’re simply extra selective, extra cautious.”
Terase noticed of tonight’s Christie’s sale: “They’ve performed it secure however in a great way—they’ve picked extra basic blue-chip names, far fewer rising artists’ works which you used to see so much in Hong Kong gross sales. I believe that’s proper for the present setting—individuals are wanting blue-chip works as they see it as a secure place to place their cash.”
Christie’s tactic paid off, with the public sale reaching HK$1bn ($134m) with charges. The hammer complete got here to HK$883.1m ($113.4m), simply shy of the low finish of the pre-sale estimate of HK$884.4m to HK$1.3bn ($113.6m to $167m), calculated with out charges. Of the 46 heaps provided, 93% bought and 11 have been already successfully pre-sold by third-party ensures, and one—unusually within the present market—carried a home assure.
Consigning the sale was powerful, Albu says: “It hasn’t been straightforward—all of us cancelled our summer time, it’s been two or three months of laborious work. Each single portray was like getting blood out of a stone!” The attract of the brand new Henderson constructing area helped persuade plenty of distributors, however the security web of a third-party assure was essential: “From the very starting, discussions with the Van Gogh, Monet and Kim Whan-Ki [vendors] have been primarily based on the settlement we might have a third-party assure in place.”
Vincent van Gogh, Les canots amarrés, 1887 Courtesy of Christie’s
It was a superb factor they have been, as a lot of the bidding felt sticky. The sale centred figuratively and financially round a number of commercially dependable Nineteenth- and Twentieth-century names. Nodding to the a hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Impressionism this yr, one high-value spotlight of the sale was a Caude Monet waterlilies portray, one in every of eight from his first Nymphéas collection (round 1897-99), which had been owned by Michel Monet and had by no means appeared at public sale earlier than. After lengthy, plodding bidding—slowed additional by one shopper’s request to bid in US {dollars}—Nymphéas finally bought to Albu’s telephone bidder, presumably the guarantor, for HK$180m (HK$233.3m/$29.9m with charges), under the HK$200m to HK$280m estimate however nonetheless an public sale document for the artist in Asia.
Equally, Vincent van Gogh’s Les canots amarrés, one in every of a collection of work of the Seine made in the summertime of 1887 within the Parisian suburb of Asnières-sur-Seine, was estimated to promote for between HK$230m and HK$380m ($30m-$50m), however went for HK$215m (HK$250.6m/$32.2m with charges), the highest worth of the sale.
That could be a document for Van Gogh in Asia and it bought to a bidder, seemingly from the US, on the telephone with Max Carter, the vice chairman for Twentieth and twenty first century artwork at Christie’s Americas. Earlier this month, The Artwork Newspaper’s Van Gogh professional Martin Bailey described Les canots amarrés as “one of the crucial necessary works of Western artwork to go underneath the hammer in Asia”. Bailey additionally reported that, though the official line is that Les canots amarrés was being bought by “a household belief represented by the royal household of Bourbon-Two Sicilies and Mr Patrick L. Abraham”, the vendor is successfully Princess Camilla, of the Bourbon-Two Sicilies household.
Zao Wou-Ki, 05.06.80 – Triptyque, 1980 Courtesy of Christie’s
Described by Albu as a “bridge” between the European and Asian artworks within the sale, Zao Wou-Ki’s 05.06.80 – Triptyque (1980) was one in every of two triptychs made by the Chinese language émigré for his exhibition on the Grand Palais in Paris in 1981. Introduced and not using a assure, the portray bought to a purchaser on the telephone with Eric Chang, chairman for Asian Twentieth century and up to date artwork at Christie’s Hong Kong, for HK$80m (HK$95.3m/$12.2m with charges), towards an estimate of HK$78m to HK$128m.
Talking earlier than the sale, Albu alluded to the “huge” South Korean market and why a portray by Korean grasp Kim Whan-Ki was “a pillar” of the sale. An enormous blue dot portray, made in 1971 and measuring two and a half metres throughout, 9-XII-71 #216 (1971) bought to Christie’s Seoul normal supervisor Hak Jun Lee’s telephone bidder for HK$46m (HK$56m/$7.2m with charges).
This yr, Christie’s quietly determined to discontinue its Put up-Millenium auctions of twenty first century artwork, which have been launched in 2022. “We walked away from the ultra-contemporary market, the whole lot painted a yr or two in the past—I don’t need us to be a part of the hypothesis,” Albu instructed The Artwork Newspaper earlier than tonight’s Hong Kong sale. “Bringing items to public sale and reaching loopy excessive costs, which later implode, will not be a superb factor. It’s lower than us to determine—it’s higher to let curators and museums and establishments determine what’s nice, moderately than us enjoying gods.”
Ronald Ventura, State of Bloom, 2021 Courtesy of Christie’s
Nonetheless, the pockets of vitality in tonight’s sale have been, mockingly, for up to date works. As an example, the third lot, an summary portray titled 18:50 from 2021 by the in-demand Los Angeles-based artist Lucy Bull bought for a world document HK$15m (HK$18.5m/$2.3m with charges), tripling its HK$5m to HK$8m estimate. That trounces the earlier public sale document for Bull, set at Sotheby’s in New York in Might, when 16:10 (2020) bought for $1.45m ($1.8m with charges). Amanda Schmitt, a New York-based artwork adviser, instructed The Artwork Newspaper in Might that “a excessive share of collectors who’re shopping for her work” are “promoting it immediately”. With quite a few telephone bidders competing for the work this night at Christie’s, it went to a bidder on the telephone with Ada Tsui, Christie’s Hong Kong-based vp, head of Twentieth and twenty first century night gross sales.
Later within the sale, a portray by the favored Filipino artist Ronald Ventura drew maybe essentially the most energetic and aggressive bidding of the entire sale. State of Bloom (2021), an oil on canvas pondering how wealth and know-how affect society, was purchased immediately from the artist and pitched to promote for between HK$1.8m to HK$2.8m. However with bids ping-ponging between Christie’s Singapore-based crew on the telephones, it bought for a document HK$30m (HK$36.6m/$4.7m with charges). That nearly doubles Ventura’s earlier document, additionally set at Christie’s Hong Kong, however three years in the past in 2021, of HK$19.4m (US$2.5m) with charges.
New public sale data have been additionally set for Lalan, Rhee Seundja, Alix Aymé, Mehdi Ghadyanloo, Tang Chang and Damrong Wong-Uparaj.
Not all of the up to date works flew so simply nonetheless. Early within the sale, the Hernan Bas portray Thriller Bouf (or, the dominion after the flood) from 2009, went unsold with a HK$4.8m to HK$8.8m estimate. Afterward, a portray by Christina Quarles, We Woke in Mourning Jus Tha Similar (2017)—the one work within the sale with a home assure—drew virtually no curiosity and bought for HK$1m (HK$1.2m/US$154, 242 with charges), half the low estimate, and is now presumably heading into Christie’s stock. That was a blow for the vendor, who purchased it at Sotheby’s in London in June 2022 for £529,200 with charges.
