Autumn in Hong Kong

Bloomberg has an update on the current auctions of art, antiques, wine, jewelry and luxury goods being auctioned this week at Christie's in Hong Kong.  Christie's is holding numerous auctions and so far and two days in records are being broken.  Chrisite's has already broken the pre sale estimate for all auctions combined with two days of sales remaining. The Chrisite's sale so far have generated 91% more in sales than last years sales, and so far has more than doubled the pre sale estimate. Most buyers are from mainland China.

Needless to say, the Asian market remains strong.

Bloomberg reports

Including today’s tally, Christie’s Hong Kong sales have so far fetched a combined HK$1.93 billion, setting 25 artist records.

The highlight of the morning’s sale of classical paintings was from Bada Shanren, one of the names taken by the mercurial Zhu Da, a 17th-century prince who became a monk and then one of the Qing dynasty’s most famous painters. His “Mynah, Poem in Running Script Calligraphy” sold for HK$11.3 million, more than seven times its high estimate. His “Pine and Lingzhi,” which had the highest presale estimate at HK$5 million, sold for HK$10.2 million.

Yesterday, with Christie’s jewelry department all wearing something pink in their attire, the auction house sold a 14.23 carat pink diamond for HK$179.9 million, the highest auction price for a diamond in Asia. The sale of gems and jade raised a total of HK$612.6 million, Christie’s biggest ever.

Balinese Legend

That followed three days of sales of Asian contemporary and Chinese 20th-century art that broke more than a dozen artist records, including those for Bali-based German painter Walter Spies, whose “Balinesische Legende” (Balinese Legend) sold for HK$16.9 million; and Chinese expatriate Sanyu, whose “Potted Chrysanthemum in a Blue and White Jardiniere” fetched HK$53.3 million.

To read the complete Bloomberg article, click HERE.