Georgette Chen, (1906-1993), Still Life with Big Durian, Painted circa 1965. Price Realised: HK$14,290,000 / US$1,833,041. The price realised is 3 times of the low estimate, renewing the artist’s auction record with Christie’s
Artdaily_ This spring, Christie’s Hong Kong presented a series of four live 20th and 21st Century Art auctions — the “20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale” and the thematic “Post-Millennium Evening Sale” on 28 May, followed by the “20th Century Art Day Sale” and “21st Century Art Day Sale” on 29 May – which achieved a combined sale total of HK$1,244,623,520 / US$159,653,335. Competitive bidding was witnessed across the auctions, with participants from 29 countries across 6 continents, making this a truly international event.
Evelyn Lin, Deputy Chairman, Co-Head of the 20th and 21st Century Art Department, Christie’s Asia Pacific, commented, “The results achieved across our 20th/21st Century Art sales demonstrate Asian collectors’ continued demand for the category. Works by Asian artists continued to garner strong results, with Chinese contemporary artists in evening sales 100% sold, and the record for Singaporean artist Georgette Chen broken by Christie’s Asia once again. The array of works by Japanese artists were highlighted by a brilliant line-up by Yayoi Kusama, which was 100% sold. The strong momentum and success of this sale provides a solid springboard for the upcoming autumn edition of the Post-Millennium Evening Sale, a collab with legendary global megastar and visionary art collector, Jay Chou.”
Cristian Albu, Deputy Chairman, Co-Head of the 20th and 21st Century Art Department, Christie’s Asia Pacific, added, “Collectors responded with enthusiasm to our dynamic and varied curation this season. For the first time at Christie’s Asia, we were thrilled to present works by René Magritte and Jeff Koons — two prominent Western masters from the modern and contemporary eras — both of which were highly coveted and constituted two of the top lots of the sale series. With excellent results for outstanding work by Asian and Western artists and a flow of new buyers, the appetite for 20th and 21st century art in Asia continues to be wide-ranging and powerful.”
Jeff Koons, (B. 1955), Sacred Heart (Magenta/Gold), Executed in 1994-2007. Price realised: HK$60,875,000 / US$7,808,704. © Christie's Images Ltd 2023
Some highlights of the sales include:
·14 auction records* set across the 20th/21st sales series, including 10 by Asian artists, and 7 by post-millennium artists (*auction records are based on the exchange rates on 28 and 29 May 2023)
·Active participation across Asia with mainland China contribution double vs spring 2022
·Mainland China second highest contributor by value after Hong Kong | SEA contribution doubled vs 2021
·Millennial buyers constituted close to 50% of new buyers in the sale series
·Worldwide participation from 29 countries across 6 continents
·7.6m viewers worldwide watched the auction livestreams