International auction house Sotheby’s has established its second highest total sales in company history for its Spring 2019 Hong Kong auction series.
Second only to the firm’s landmark 40th anniversary sales total in Autumn 2013, Sotheby’s Hong Kong concluded the season with a total of HK$482 million, exceeding the pre-sale estimate for the series of $428 million.
The sales were marked by healthy activity across all categories and from all corners of Asia, with a strong combined sell-through rate of 90 per cent.
“These superb results are up on what were already very strong results last spring, despite the fact that the estimates were lower than a year ago,” said the firm’s CEO Tad Smith, adding “our excellent performance against low estimate is a clear indicator of the health of the market in Asia and bodes very well for our important upcoming May auctions in New York.”
“With all eyes firmly fixed on our Hong Kong sales for this first indicative season, I think we can say that the Asian market did not disappoint,” commented CEO of Sotheby’s Asia Kevin Ching. “Our total follows what was already a record year for Sotheby’s in Asia, with this season’s results now sitting among the top results we have ever achieved here in Hong Kong – a testament to the fact that, when you get it right, collectors from across Asia remain ready to go the extra mile.”
Sotheby’s Asia chairman Patti Wong added: “When building the sales for these big seasons, we try to keep our finger firmly on the pulse of our collectors so as to understand, not only what they want right now, but also where their interests are taking them, so our offerings reflect both where the market is and where it is going. That is why we are bringing an ever-more diverse range of material to Hong Kong, along with an ever-wider range of possibilities for collectors to engage with us. This, for me, is what is so exciting about these seasons – they are not only a data point for the Asian market, they are also a testimony to the excitement, and opportunity, that exists within it.”
Among the highlights of the Sotheby’s Hong Kong season:
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- The auction house staged 20 auctions in nine categories featuring 4331 lots and attracting more than 35,000 visitors.
- Six lots sold for in excess of $100 million.
- Wine sales totalled $273 million, setting a new world auction record.
- Sales of modern art realised $851 million, the top lot being Wu Guanzhong’s Lotus Flowers (I), which fetched $130.8 million, more than 8.5 times the estimate.
- The highest-totalling series of Contemporary Art sales staged in Asia, realising $802 million.
- A record for a work by a female artist sold at auction in Asia: Kusama Yayoi’s Interminable Net #4 sold for $62.4 million.