HONG KONG.- Commenting on the sale, Kevin Ching, Chief Executive Officer of Sotheby’s Asia, said: “Blue-chip, 20th Century works fresh to the market dominated this evening’s sale, which presented many opportunities for both new and established collectors. Our Modern Asian section was anchored by an outstanding and appealing group of six works by Wu Guanzhong, sourced from many different collections both in Asia and Europe, which attracted great depth of bidding with notably strong prices, especially for the early paintings. The six works brought a total of HK$157 million, more than double pre-sale estimate. Early works by Zao Wou-Ki also performed exceptionally well, and a work on paper by Pan Yuliang made HK$13.88 million against pre-sale estimates of HK$5 – 8 million.

Sotheby's market leadership in the Southeast Asian art category over the past few years allowed us to assemble a desirable selection, and a high point of the evening was the record price set for the artist Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur, for a work which had come from the esteemed collection of the late Professor Arthur Lim. During the pre-sale exhibition there had been enormous enthusiasm for large-scale and powerful paintings by key artists such as Ronald Ventura, Carlos Villaluz Francisco, and Hendra Gunawan. All performed extremely well with artist auction records set for both Francisco and Gunawan.

Continuing the momentum we saw for Contemporary Korean and Japanese artists during our ground-breaking selling exhibition last month, our sale offered a fine selection of works by leading figures from the abstract movements – Park Seobo, Chung Sanghwa and Tanaka Atsuko. All achieved extraordinary results and were sold at multiple times of their previous auction records, demonstrating Sotheby’s vision in showcasing this category at auction.”

WORLD AUCTION RECORDS FOR ARTISTS
• Yuan Yunfu (b. 1933) Jiangnan Waterscape (Diptych) 1981, oil on board, L: 100 x 100 cm; R: 100 x 100 cm Estimate: HK$3 – 5 million / US$387,000 – 645,000 Sold For: HK$3.44 million / US$441,000

• Carlos Villaluz Francisco (1912 – 1969) Muslim Betrothal 1958, oil on canvas, 109.5 x 176 cm Estimate upon request Sold For: HK$10.28 million / US$1.32 million

• Hendra Gunawan (1918 – 1983) Pandawa Dadu (The Dice Game from the Mahabharata Epic) 1971, oil on canvas, 202 x 386 cm Estimate upon request Sold For: HK$26.48 million / US$3.39 million

• Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur De Merprès (1880 – 1958) Dancers Oil on canvas, 100 x 119.5 cm Estimate: HK$4 – 6 million / US$520,000 – 775,000 Sold For: HK$20.48 million / US$2.63 million

• Ahmad Sadali (1924 – 1987) Balok Bersisa Emas Dengan Latar Putih (Gold Remnants On A Beam Against White Background) Oil on canvas, 99 x 135 cm Estimate: HK$500,000 – 700,000 / US$64,500 – 90,500 Sold For: HK$3.92 million / US$503,000

• Jia Aili (b. 1979) Good Morning, World (triptych) 2010, oil on canvas, each: 200 x 288 cm, overall: 200 x 1067 cm Estimate: HK$7 – 9 million / US$905,000 – 1.17 million Sold For: HK$13.28 million / US$1.7 million

• Park Seobo (b. 1931) Ecriture No. 9 - 75 1975, oil and pencil on canvas, 130.3 x 161 cm Estimate: HK$1 – 1.5 million / US$129,000 – 194,000 Sold For: HK$4.64 million / US$595,000

• Chung Sanghwa (b. 1932) Untitled 05-7-15, 05-2-14 (Two Works) 2005, acrylic on canvas, each 162 x 130.6 cm Estimate: HK$1.6 – 2.6 million / US$207,000 – 336,000 Sold For: HK$4.88 million / US$626,000

• Tanaka Atsuko (1932 – 2005) 93C 1993, acrylic on canvas, 130 x 193.5 cm Estimate: HK$2.5 – 4 million / US$323,000 – 520,000 Sold For: HK$7.28 million / US$933,000