HONG KONG.- Under the gavel of Isabelle Bresset – a Director at Artcurial – the inaugural auction fetched a total of of 63M HKD/7.25M euros/8.2M US dollars over 2 days. Up to 700 collectors and connoisseurs visited the auction preview from 2-6 October, at The Space and Lightstage which are specially redecorated to resembling Artcurial’s Headquarters in Paris located in an early 19th Century French townhouse . Buyers throughout the world were very active on the telephones, the Internet and in the auction room. Asian buyers welcomed the Artcurial as a new player in the scene with keen interest.

“We are thrilled by the results achieved at our inaugural auction in association with Spink. We would like to thank our clients and friends for their warm welcome and great support. The strong prices and breaking records set throughout the 2-day-auction reinforce Artcurial’s appeal to international and Asian buyers. As part of our international strategy, we now look forward to providing tailor-made services to Asian collectors ” said Isabelle Bresset, Artcurial’s Director in charge of this inaugural sale.

COMICS AND ILLUSTRATION SECTION TOTALED 33.4M/3.8M euros/4.4M M US dollars AND NEARLY 100% SOLD
“We are very pleased with the nearly sell-out comics auction, first of its kind in Hong Kong. It recognizes our commitment in sourcing and presenting the best comics works to our trusted collectors, particularly in Asia this time. We are very proud to have sold The Blue Lotus by Hergé at 1.1M euros in Hong Kong to an Asian buyer . The Ninth Art is now going beyond Europe and reaches one of the leading market on the international art scene: Hong Kong, with Hergé’s works reinforcing their leadership position. It is also worth mentioning that Enki Bilal, one of the most important living French artists, fetches remarkable prices. Rarely seen in the market, the Enki Bilal ensemble induced fierce bidding. 5 pieces among the lots broke the artist’s previous record at an auction (177.000 euros set in 2007). Nikopol – Tome 2, La Femme Piège (lot 6) sold for a world auction record – twice higher than the previous record,” said Eric Leroy, Artcurial’s comics expert.

The auction started with the rare The Blue Lotus by Hergé (lot 1) which set an important price of 9.625.000 HKD/1.107.196 euros/1.241.911 US dollars – ranking the piece amongst the 5 best prices ever achieved for the artist at an auction. It has been acquired by an Asian collector.

5 lots among the fantastic selection of Enki Bilal was sold above its previous record of 177.000 euros in 2007, with the new record price (lot 6) fetching 3.145.000 HKD/361.755 euros/405.799 US dollars. Collectors embraced the rare opportunity to acquire iconic pieces by the artist.

PROPERTY OF A EUROPEAN NOBLE FAMILY TOTALED 4.6M HKD/529.000 euros/548.000 US dollars
This exceptional single -owner collection comprising refined and sophisticated masterpieces, including some of the best works by the most renowned goldsmiths of the late 18th Century, was met with tremendous success.

Remarkable prices were set for:

• lot 109: 1.465.000 HKD/170.000 euros/190.000 US dollars

• lot 110: 600.000 HKD/70.000 euros/80.000 US dollars

• lot 111: 200.000 HKD/23.000 euros/26.000 US dollars ALMOST TEN TIMES THE ESTIMATE

• lot 117: 685.000 HKD /80.000 euros/90.000 US dollars THREE TIMES THE ESTIMATE

IMPRESSIONIST, MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART SECTION:
Very good prices for Bernard Buffet confirmed the recently reignited recognition of the artist whose work will exhibited next year at Musée d’Art Morderne de Paris. The 4 paintings obtained together a total of 8M HKD/924.430 euros/1M US dollars (lots 30,308,309,310).

An evocative Mao portrait by Yan Pei-Ming (lot 316) also drew the attention of numerous buyers, eventually sold at 2.545.000 HKD/292.691 euros/328.380 US dollars.

ELEGANT LIFESTYLE:
Artcurial broke new grounds in the HK auction scene by presenting the first ever classical car lot. The 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, hard top - iconic model that remained in private hands for the last 48 years – was sold to a European buyer for nearly 10MHKD/924.430 euros/ 1M US dollars.