MEDIA COVERAGE

LARASATI PICTURES OF ASIA FINE ART AUCTION

On October 8 2005, LARASATI Auctioneers (in cooperation with Glerum Auctioneers) held her sixth auction in Singapore at the Raffles Hotel.

Attended by more than 300 collectors and art enthusiasts LARASATI sold 81% of the 105 lots offered, scoring a total sales of around SGD 2,6 million.

For the first time ever an Antonio Blanco’s oil (“Tjempaka” – lot 106) graces the cover of an auction catalog despite his great accomplishment as an artist. What made the event even more unique and special was the fact that the model of the painting, Tjempaka Blanco, attended the auction. Bidding started at SGD 30,000, but few minutes later, the Blanco raked in SGD 233,000, a new world record for an unsigned work by the artist and making it second most expensive Blanco in the world today (the highest was achieved at LARASATI auction in April 2004 “Balinese Dancer”, which raked in SGD 249,500).

A big round of applause also followed the sale of Affandi’s “Me and My Cigar” (lot 92) and Wu Guanzhong’s “Boulders near the White-walled House” (lot 64), which fetched SGD 389,800 and SGD 322,600 respectively. “Me and My Cigar” now rates among the most valuable Affandi’s Self Portraits, while the little oil by Wu Guanzhong, measuring 45 x 45 cm, is apparently the most expensive Wu Guanzhong today of that size.

Other highlights on the Old Masters include works by Indonesia’s Affandi “Andong and Banyan Tree” (Lot 94) which fetched SGD 345,000, Holland’s Isaac Israels “Wayang” (lot 18) which was sold for SGD 128,700, and Switzerland’s Theo Meier “Woman with a Child” (lot 99), which brought in SGD 93,600.

On the New Contemporary section, China’s Fang Lijun “2002.10.01” (lot36), fetched SGD 76,050, which is also a new mark for him.

Last but not least was the outstanding performance by the Vietnamese artists. It was a sell-out section with Nguyen Thanh Binh’s “Ballerinas” (lot 50) topped the list by raking in SGD 28,080, by far a new record for artist.