SHANGHAI.- On 24 October, Christie’s held its Shanghai Autumn sales achieving a combined total of RMB 70 million/US$ 11 million. Total sell-through rate was 87% across all categories reflecting heightened international demand.

Jussi Pylkkanen, Christie’s Global President, commented: “Christie's is proud to be in Shanghai and to continue with a successful and innovative auction programme. This season the '+86 First Open’ auction presented an exciting new wave of Chinese contemporary artists which was received enthusiastically by collectors around the world. We feel confident these great talents have found a world stage, resonating with global collectors who will continue in their support of these Chinese artists. Inspired by these results of the '+86 First Open’ sale, Christie's plans to launch a '+971 First Open’ sale for the Middle East which will pave the way for many thrilling opportunities to expand to other markets such as India”.

Jinqing Cai, President Christie’s China, added: “Works by Liu Wei, Qiu Xiaofei and Tu Hongtao highlighted Christie’s inaugural ‘+86 First Open’ sale, which achieved strong results. Providing an East-meets-West platform, our evening auction of ‘Asian and Western 20th Century & Contemporary Art’ was welcomed by an international public with two celebrated artists from China and Europe -- Zeng Fanzhi and Pablo Picasso, setting the highest prices of the evening”.

Multiple records were set at the inaugural +86 First Open sale dedicated to Chinese contemporary art, which attracted buyers across three continents. With strong sell-through rates of 97% by lot, the auction realised a total of RMB 13,842,500 / US$ 2,200,000. The top lot of the sale was Purple Air, an iconic painting by Liu Wei (Chinese, born 1972) executed in 2009 which sold for RMB 3,630,000 / US$ 577,000 achieving the second highest price paid for a work by the artist at auction.

The second edition of Christie’s sale of Chinese and Asian Contemporary Design was equally successful with particularly high results achieved for works by young designers from across Asia. Totalling RMB 14,658,750 / US$ 2,329,904, the auction was 89% sold by lot. The highest price was paid for a Bo Luo lacquered and gold inlaid zitan circular table from Shang Xia’s ‘Da Tian Di’ series, which realised RMB 1,830,000 / US$ 290,866.

The top lot of the evening auction of Asian and Western 20th Century and Contemporary Art was A Complete Set of Nineteen Silver Plates by Pablo Picasso which was sold to a Chinese collector for RMB 11,310,000 / US$ 1,797,644, demonstrating continued interest for the great Spanish master in this region. Totalling RMB 33,973,750 / US$ 5,399,887, the sale also included works by Zeng Fanzhi and Antony Gormley among others.

Christie’s Elements of Style sale fetched a total result of RMB 6,590,625 / US$ 1,047,533 with strong sell-through rates. The entire collection of 18 rare handbags was sold in less than 30 minutes mostly with great participation from Mainland China collectors. The watches section also performed well reconfirming the popularity of this category. The top lot for the sale was a fine pink gold, diamond and black diamond-set automatic wristwatch with rotating cube hour display by Louis Vuitton which realized RMB237,500 / USD 37,749.