Contemporary Asian Art at Sotheby’s

Contemporary Asian Art sales keep going up

Sotheby’s Sept. 20 sale of contemporary Asian art totaled $18,165,920, with 198 of 300 lots finding buyers, or about 66 percent. The total is the highest in this category at Sotheby’s. Works by Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958) continue to be hotly sought after; five of the top 11 lots in the sale were his monochrome portraits, each typically marked with a floating "stain." The auction also saw new records for Chen Danqing ($1,472,000), Liu Xiaodong ($520,000), Zhao Chunxiang ($464,000) and Wang Qingsong ($318,400).

The action continued on Sept. 21, as Christie’s held its sale of Japanese and Korean art, which totaled $2.8 million. Sotheby’s held its sale of fine Chinese ceramics and works of art on the same day, bringing in a total of $10,562,860.

On Sept. 22, Sotheby’s held the first sale in New York dedicated to Indian contemporary art, totaling $1,818,780 and setting new auction records for Jitish Kallat ($72,000) and Sudarshan Shetty ($66,000). Of the 58 lots offered, only four failed to sell.

When the dust had settled, Sotheby’s claimed victory, with a total for all Asian sales in New York of $45,351,060. Christie’s Asia week total was $34,991,700. In its post-sale report, Christie’s put the formula for art-auction success with admirable succinctness -- "top quality, rarity and provenance." More...

Contemporary Asian Art is the online gallery of Pacific Bridge Contemporary Southeast Asian Art, a gallery and artist exchange program.