Sotheby’s Hong Kong recently held a Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction, starting of the art auction season after the U.S. national election — November 11 at its new Landmark Chater location. The event performed unevenly, but brought in HKD 409.5 million ($52.6 million), well within the pre-sale expectations of between HKD 377.8 million–HKD 509 million ($48.6 million–$65.5 million). Of the 27 lots on offer, five were unsold, leaving an 81.5 per cent sell-through rate.
The sale also saw examples of test prints from Andy Warhol’s iconic 1969 Campbell Soup II series remaining unsold, with bids for the artist proofs coming in between HKD 4.5 million–HKD 6.5 million ($580,000-$840,000). Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Yellow and Blue), 1954, the highest sale of the auction, made HKD 252.5 million ($32.5 million) just above its estimate range of HKD 225 million-HKD 275 million ($29 million-$35 million). This nearly 8-foot-tall portrait has a distinguished prior ownership chart, including U.S. banker Paul Mellon and luxury executive François Pinault, but most recently Jho Low, the alleged financier of the 1MDB scandal.
The prospect of spending more to secure a Rothko work with guarantees and irrevocable bids ended the competition, which included two phone bidders so that firm Patti Wong & Associates could lodge the winning bid for a private collector.
Feature Image: Auction preview at Sotheby’s new Maison at Landmark Chater in Hong Kong| Courtesy: The Value
Contributor
