Christie’s two evening sales in Hong Kong on Sunday May 28 had mixed results, but did not fail. The house’s 20th/21st century sale and the return of its post-millennium evening sale together reached a total of HK$889 million ($113.5 million including fees), led by the sale of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Black (1986), hammered to HK$51.5 million ($6.6 million) and sold for HK$62.6 million ($8 million).
The combined back-to-back sales volume was just under 20% from last fall’s HK$742.6 million, with nearly a third more lots on offer. (This is an adjusted total of last falldue to after-sales and canceled sales, but Christie’s has refused to disclose the sales of lots that have been cancelled). But Sunday’s total was only about 63% of that obtained in spring 2022. The post-millennium sale was steady, but the main evening sale total fell short of pre-sale expectations.
Top-notch international art by Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, René Magritte and Marc Chagall, as well as young market figures such as Nicolas Party and Avery Singer, dominated sales, where several records for Asian artists were also set. reached. . Christie’s said nearly 50% of new buyers at 20th and 21st century art sales, including day sales, were millennials.
Although several works did not sell and some reached a hammer price just below the pre-sale expectation (or even lower), and with little indoor auction activity, the atmosphere was generally dynamic. This was especially true after Adrien Meyer, Christie’s Co-Chairman for Impressionist and Modern Art, took over as auctioneer and picked up the pace in the final hour of this nearly four-hour marathon. hours.
But what could be more surreal than Magritte’s painting The lovers’ promenade (1929-1930) – hammered at 42 million HK dollars ($5.4 million) and sold for 51 million HK dollars ($6.5 million) – was the odd kind of ever -seen on Sunday as a longtime executive of the house’s main rival, Sotheby’s, took to the floor. Sunday’s event marked the debut of the former Sotheby’s veteran Kevin Ching at Christie’s, as the new Asia President.
Christie’s also announced its collaboration with the Taiwanese mega pop star and collector Jay Chou between the two sales. Details of the collaboration have yet to be announced, but Chou has already made its auction debut, hosting a Sotheby’s Contemporary sale at June 2021.
Below is the story in numbers…
Nicholas Party, Still life (2015). Courtesy of Christie’s.
Post-Millennium Evening Sale:
Total sales after fees: HK$163 million ($21 million)
Lots sold (including guaranteed lots): 28
Lots offered before withdrawals: 32
Lots withdrawn: 1
Lots purchased: 3
Sale rate including withdrawals: 87.5%
Sale rate excluding withdrawals: 90.3%
Total Hammer: HK$131.6 million ($16.8 million)
Low pre-sale estimate before withdrawals: HK$110.5 million ($14 million)
Hammer Total vs Presale Low Estimate: +21 million HK dollars ($2.7 million)
Total low estimate of withdrawn batches: HK$5 million ($638,405) (4.5% of total pre-sale low estimate)
Lots with house guarantees: 1
Total low estimate of the guaranteed lots of the house: HK$300,000 ($38,304) (0.27% of total presale low estimate)
Lots with Third Party Guarantees: 3
Total low estimate of guaranteed third-party prizes: HK$9,300,000 ($1.2 million) (8.4% of total presale low estimate)
Top rated seller: Lot 20, Nicolas Party, Still life (2015), sold for HK$39 million ($5 million). The hammer price was HK$32 million ($4 million), within pre-sale expectations of HK$26 million and HK$36 million ($3.4 million to $4.6 million ).
Lasting memory: Auctioneers at the Hong Kong sales have generally been quite patient as, for some reason, telephone bidders take much longer to decide whether to place a bid than at the London or New York sales. Very often, telephone bidders at Hong Kong sales tended to ask for small increments for each bid. But this time, the leading ladies of the Sunday sales, auctioneers Georgina Hilton (post-millennium evening sale) and Chen Liang-Lin (first half of the big evening sale), were determined to keep up the pace, urging their colleagues sitting on the phone. bank along. They also refused bidders’ requests over the phone for increases as small as HK$50,000 ($6,383) per bid. “Just tell him no,” Chen told a colleague bidding on the phone for a customer.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Black (1986). Courtesy of Christie’s.
20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale:
Total sales after fees: HK$725.7 million ($92.7 million)
Lots sold (including guaranteed lots): 48
Lots offered before withdrawals: 59
Lots withdrawn: 2
Lots purchased: 9
Sale rate including withdrawals: 81 percent
Sale rate excluding withdrawals: 84 percent
Total Hammer: HK$589 million ($75.2 million)
Low pre-sale estimate before withdrawals: HK$595.6 million ($75.3 million)
Hammer Total vs Presale Low Estimate: – HK$6.5 million ($828,646)
Total low estimate of withdrawn batches: HK$34 million ($4.3 million) (5.7% of total pre-sale low estimate)
Lots with house guarantees: 2
Total low estimate of the guaranteed lots of the house: HK$43 million ($5.5 million) (7.2% of total pre-sale low estimate)
Lots with Third Party Guarantees: ten
Total low estimate of guaranteed third-party prizes: HK$165 million ($21 million) (27.7% of total pre-sale low estimate)
Top rated seller: Lot 82, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Black (1986), sold for 62 million Hong Kong dollars ($8 million), including fees, to a telephone bidder represented by Jacky Ho, vice-president of Christie’s and head of evening sales in Hong Kong. It went under the hammer at HK$51.5 million ($6.6 million), below the lower end of the pre-sale estimate of HK$55 million ($7.1 million) . But the new sale price was slightly lower than its previous auction result. The work last appeared on the market on October 28, 2020, during a Sotheby’s sale in New York. It sold for $8.1 million including fees.
Lasting memory: Twentieth-century works by renowned Asian artists of Chinese descent were once among the most sought-after categories in Hong Kong sales. But in recent years, their performance has not lived up to expectations. Several 20th-century works with relatively high estimates were on offer this spring, but some ultimately failed to sell, including a 1996 oil painting by Wu Guanzhong and a 1983 work by Chen Danqing. A 1998 canvas by Chen Yifei has been removed.
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