HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong Modern Art and Contemporary Art Evening Sales on 30 September 2018 will present a line-up of seminal works, many of which are fresh to the market, by eminent Asian masters such as Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun, Sanyu, Zeng Fanzhi, Liu Ye, Kusama Yayoi, Shiraga Kazuo, Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès, Ronald Ventura, alongside their contemporaries in the West, including Pablo Picasso, Gerhard Richter, Wifredo Lam and Joan Mitchell, among others.

Headlining the sales is the largest-ever painting by Zao Wou-Ki, Juin-Octobre 1985, which is expected to fetch in excess of HK$350 million / US$45 million (click for press release). In addition, a concept will be auctioned as an artwork for the first time in Asia when Xuzhen Supermarket is offered at the Contemporary Art Evening Sale (click for press release). Together, the two Sales will offer over 90 lots, with a combined estimate in excess of HK$1 billion / US$128 million.

Kevin Ching, CEO of Sotheby’s Asia, comments, “With a total estimate of over HK$1 billion, this season’s Evening Sales line-up is a spectacle bound to impress. In the Modern Art Evening Sale, we are privileged to offer masterpieces by blue-chip artists including period works from the 1960s by Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun, Hsiao Chin, among others. The 1960s was a pivotal era in Modern Asian art history, works of which are rare and extremely sought after in the market. The Southeast Asian section is highlighted by three rare paintings by Indo-European Artists which fully capture the exotic vibrancy of the region.

Kevin Ching continues, “Equally exciting is the Contemporary Art Evening Sale. We are honored to present rare and highly representative Chinese contemporary artworks by masters such as Zeng Fanzhi and Liu Ye along with an exceptional group of Japanese contemporary art in demonstration of our continued market leadership in the category – including a career-spanning selection of works by Kusama Yayoi. This season also comes with many firsts, including Joan Mitchell’s auction debut in Asia, coinciding with surging collecting interest surrounding the celebrated female Abstract Expressionist. The most remarkable of all, however, is Xuzhen Supermarket, which will be the first concept to ever be auctioned as an artwork in Asia, a testament to Sotheby’s commitment to innovation.”