MEDIA COVERAGE
MARKET GAINS MORE CONFIDENCE AT SECOND ASIAN AUCTION WEEK
Monday, 30 November 2009, Hong Kong — Bidders at Asian Auction Week’s second Hong Kong sale on Sunday, November 29, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel showed investor sentiment to be back in positive territory, with their bidding netting a total mount of HK$41.2 million in sales, witnessing 82% of the lots sold. This is in contrast to the HK$17.33 million raised in May.
Of the 160 lots on offer, the most expensive pieces of artwork sold included Ju Ming’s Tai Chi Series-Single Whip and Yoshitomo Nara’s Winter Long, at HK$5.8 million and HK$4.1 million respectively (including buyer’s premium).
Daniel Komala, CEO of Larasati Auctioneers and spokesperson of the four partners behind the Asian Auction Week said, “When we selected the lots for our second auction, we used the learning from our first sale and matched that with the changes we were spotting in investor appetite. The market in May was more conservative and we witnessed a lot of interest in up-and-coming art icons whose entry price was very attractive.”
He continued, “Our offering this time around is much more heavy-weighted. While we continue to offer future art icons, entry prices are higher compared with our first Hong Kong sale. We also offered a wider range of the old Masters’ artworks, at prices that are very competitive for their quality and reputation. True to expectations, we are seeing a renewed interest in these pieces. This is typical of the contemporary art market. As confidence returns, and more investors have more funds to access, there is always a return to the ‘blue chip’ pieces.”
Other auction highlights included Yashushi Ebihara’s Angela, whose selling price of HK$1.298 million (including buyer’s premium) exceeded the starting price by 519 percent, and Song Jinhwa’s Survive which sold at HK$177,000 (including buyer’s premium), 322 percent above the starting price.
Southeast Asian old masters did well with Affandi’s Cock Fight netting HK$826,000 (including buyer’s premium), 165 percent above the starting price price, and Husain, Maqbool Fida’s Mother Teresa, selling at HK$1.18 million (including buyer’s premium), 148 percent over its starting price.
Other sought after lots included Lee Sun-Don’s 3-Abstract-D which sold for HK$472,000 (including buyer’s premium), 169 percent above starting price, and Zhou Chun-Ya’s Mountain Rocks-Red Rocks, sold at HK$1.652 million (including buyer’s premium), 127 percent over its starting price.
Komala added, “Yesterday’s bidders all made excellent investments. We are confident that many of the pieces sold will appreciate on average 20 to 30 percent within the next two years.”
The collaborative effort by four of Asia’s leading auction houses aims to re-define the art auction landscape in Hong Kong and introduce a comprehensive offering of established and rising stars from Asia.