【2020 HK Autumn Auctions | List of 5 Million Dollar Sales】Asian artists of 60s and 70s were absent, Western female artists born in 70s rise to shine
Following the previous article "2020 HK Autumn Auction | List of 10 Million Dollar Sales", ArtPro will continue to present the List of 5 Million Dollar Sales in Hong Kong's autumn auctions, which is the Top20 list. In 2020, the Top20 sales in Hong Kong autumn auction has generated a total of USD $251 million (about 1.947 HKD $billion), the price of single lot is more than USD $5 million, all have been sold in the evening auctions.
From the perspective of auction houses, the two major houses, Christie's and Sotheby's are equally divided, both has present 9 lots. Among them, Phillips and Poly jointly auctioned together for the first time, which is also an innovation of this season, and 2 lots were presented in the Top 20 list.
What is the reason of Top 20 artworks that attracted attention? What kind of market data is behind the high-priced works? Now, we have divide the artists of Top20 works into three categories according to their age: artists born in1900-40s, 50s, 60s and 70s, please follow ArtPro to explore the market data.
Part I. Artists From 1900s to 1940s Were The Mainstay of The Market, San Yu Has Rise to shine
1.The works of artists between 1900s to 1940s have large amount and high price
From the perspective of the turnover proportion of Top20 and the number of works on the list, artists before the 1940s accounted for the largest proportion, followed by artists from the 1950s, then 1960s and 1970s. In terms of the number of works on the list, artists from the 1900s to 1940s are on the list with 12 works, and the other two groups are equally divided, with 4 works of each.
From the perspective of the turnover proportion of Top20 lots, artists in 1900s and 1940s accounted for the largest part. The numbers accounted for 60% but the turnover accounted for 71.78%. It is clear that the artists in 1900s and 1940s have occupied the core position, and they are still the mainstay of the auction.
Although artists in 1950s and artists in 1960s and 1970s had the same number of works on auctions, the difference in the proportion of sales was nearly 5%, and the latter was even better.
Right：The percentage of works by artists of different ages
In the above 12 works on the list, one of them is Richter's abstract painting and the most expensive piece in this season, the other one is Dollar Sign by Andy Warhol. These two artists have stable performance. In addition, the works on the rest of list are taken by San Yu and the Three Swordsman in France.
2.San Yu is against the three, turnover and square meter price are far ahead of the Three Swordsman in France
2.In addition to the abstract painting of Richter as Top1 this season, San Yu and the Three Swordsman in France has performed strongly. In the Top 20 list, San Yu and the Three Swordsman have received a total of USD $146 million, accounting for 58.16% of the total turnover that continue to lead the modern and contemporary art sector. Among them, San Yu's works have reached the peak again, the turnover and the square meter price were far ahead.
I. San Yu——Turnover: turnover is 1.5 times higher than Three Swordsman in France
In terms of quantity, among the works of more than 5 million US dollars, San Yu has 4 works exclusively, and the Three Swordsman in France accounted for 6; in terms of the price of a single work, San Yu has 4 works sold over HKD $100 million. Among the Three Swordsman, only Wu Guanzhong's Scenery Of Northern China sold over HKD $100 million；
In terms of total turnover, the turnover of San Yu's more than 5 million works are about 1.5 times higher than the Three Swordsman in France. From these three dimensions, it is clear that San Yu had brilliant performance in the autumn auctions that is even better than the Chinese-French artists.
II. San Yu——Square meter price of works: Small works are popular, with small size and high unit price
In the distribution map of the price of square meters, San Yu's three works rank among the top three, all of which are less than 1m². The square meter price of Goldfish is as high as 59.34 million US dollars, and the square meters of the other two works are also above USD $3 million, the square meter price is far ahead of other artists' works; the fourth work isWu Guanzhong's Scenery Of Guilin, which is also less than 1m² in size, and the unit price has maintained at 20.75 million US dollars.
It is clear that for these artists who have long been famous in the art world, the quality of their works is more important than the size. Even small-scaled works are still very popular.
III. San Yu- Rate of Return: Potted flowers come first on the list, price of Pink Chrysanthemum In Basket raised by 42 times in 15 years
Looking at the whole picture, in the autumn of 2020, works of San Yu and the Three Swordsman in France that have sold over five millions, except for this Fleurs Dans Un Pot Bleu Et Blanc, the other 9 works have been repeatedly sold, which shows the market circulation rate of the works of these four artist is relatively good, and the rate of return is also good.
From the annualized rate of return chart of the holding time of the works, it shows that the three works of San Yu's potted flowers, animals, and nude women have high rates of return; and the annualized returns of these works by the Three Swordsman in France are all below 20%.
From the annualized rate of return chart of the holding time of the works, it can be seen that the return rates of the three works of San Yu's potted flowers, animals, and naked women are all above 20%, and the rate of return is considerable; while these works of the Three Swordsman in France, the rate of return is below 2%-16%. San Yu's Pink Chrysanthemum in Basket, which was auctioned at Christie's Hong Kong in November 2005, was sold for USD $410,000; in 2008, Sotheby's was auctioned off, and end up unsold; December 2020, at the auction of Christie's Hong Kong it was sold at US$1782, becoming the Top 3 in the San Yu's Flower Series. It has gone from tens of US dollars to tens of millions of US dollars, increased by 42 times in 15 years, and an annualized rate of return of 26%, which is extrodinary.
Part II. The popularity of artists in 1950s was fierce
The only artists in 1950s were Zhang Xiaogang and Yoshitomo Nara. Both artists have two works on the list. Among them, Zhang Xiaogang's TBloodline-big Family No. 2 broke his personal record with USD $12.64 million in one fell swoop, setting a good record for the Chinese contemporary art sector, with another work broke his personal Top6. Both works of Yoshitomo Nara are subjects of large head girls that set the artist's Top2 and Top4 respectively.
Greenhouse Girl raised by 16 times in 12 year, The Dark Trilogy：Fear, Meditation, Sorrow increased by 5 times in 4 years
These two works are classic masterpieces of the artists. Greenhouse Girl was auctioned at Christie's New York in May 2008 and sold for USD $760,000. After 12 years, it was auctioned on Phillips & Poly for USD $13.3 million, which has increased by 16 times in 12 years, with an annualized rate of return of 16.30%.
The Dark Trilogy：Fear, Meditation, Sorrow was first auctioned in May 2016 and sold for USD $1.08 million. Four years later, it appeared at Sotheby's Hong Kong with a price of USD $7.08 million, that has increased by 5 times in 4 years, the annualized rate of return is 54%.
Part III. Asian artists of 60s and 70s were absent, Western female artists born in 70s rise to shine
Four works on the list are from artists in the 1960s and 1970s. It is worth noting that these four artists are from the West; while Asian artists of 1960s and 1970s are missing the list of works sold more than $5 million.
The post-70s female artist Dana Schutz thrives. In 2018, her most expensive work Her Arms was sold for USD $790,000. In 2019, her most expensive personal work Civil Planning sold for USD $2.42 million dollars. And in 2020, the work Elevator in 2020 received 6.46 million dollars. Dana Schutz has greatly refreshed her personal record in Hong Kong autumn auctions, she is indeed an emerging star with great potential, which is very exciting.
Banksy and Dana Schutz's large-scale works, outstanding performance of underestimation
In over-low-estimate rate and over-high-estimate rate, Banksy and Dana Schultz are particularly prominent. Forgive Us Our Trespassing (In Four Parts) has an underestimated by 238% and an overestimated by +68%. Elevator is underestimated by 177% and overestimated by 108%. Both of these works are large-scaled masterpieces, the first one is 27.58m² and the second one is 14.91m². The collectors' desire for arge-scale works is really surprising.
In contrast, Basquiat's Ancient Scientist and Adrian Ghenie's Lidless Eye were sold within the estimated price range, and there was not much premium, indicating that the collectors' choice of Western art is still relatively rational.
With the increasing maturity and internationalization of the Hong Kong market, it has become more fair and modernized. There are more Western works entering Hong Kong, and the time ranges are also increasing. It is obvious that the exchange of new and old collectors are ongoing. In the modern and contemporary section of the Hong Kong autumn auction, there are many Western artists born in the 60s and 70s, but Asian artists from 1960s and 70s were absent. It shows that the Chinese contemporary art section still needs continuous precipitation and growth. ArtPro will continue to summarize the market changes in Hong Kong autumn auctions. Please stay tuned for "2020 HK Autumn Auctions Feature".
