2021 Hong Kong Spring Auction lots estimated over 100 million HKD
The Sotheby’s Hong Kong fine art auctions started with a bang in 2021. Beginning with ICONS: Masterpieces from across time and space and immediately followed by Beyond Legends: Modern Art Evening Sale, the evening sales on Sunday together achieved a tally of HK$1.15 billion (US$147 million). These stellar results suggest that more than one year into the pandemic, collectors continue to snap up extraordinary works of art, a promising sign for the many auctions still to go in the week.
While the results of the two fine art sales underscore the underlying resilience of the art market in Asia and the strength of Hong Kong as an international platform, their success can also be attributed to the immense value of the works offered, presenting opportunities too rare for collectors to pass up. We include highlights of the evening sale below. Notable was the keen interest in Western works, which have in recent years been widely collected in Asia. The appetite for the works of European modern masters has grown as the market in Asia continues to show strength for a wide range of Asian modern and post-war art.
Ian McGinlay took to the rostrum to preside over the two marquee sales, and as the dramatic events unfolded, the the thrill of the live auction experience was livestreamed to audiences via seamless video streams.
ICONS: Masterpieces from across time and space
In a tightly curated sale, ICONS brought together five masterpieces from the vast sweep of art history, each representing a celebration of the human form. Presenting masterworks of the utmost rarity, the auction was a thrilling event that realised a total of HK$374 million (US$48.1 million), and reached new records in Asia by Pablo Picasso's Buste de matador and Alberto Giacometti's Petit buste sur colonne, sold respectively at HK$139.9 million (US$18 million) and 25.6 million (US$3.3 million).
Beyond Legends: Modern Art Evening Sale
Next Up: Contemporary Art Evening Sale
The Contemporary Art Evening Sale will be the event to watch, also viewable by Sotheby's state-of-the-art livestream, on Monday 19 April when an exceptional selection of Western and Asian masterworks will go under the hammer. Taking centre stage will be Clyfford Still’s PH-568 from 1965, a majestic late work from the artist’s Maryland period, as well as three works by Yoshitomo Nara.