PARIS.- For the second year running, Artcurial is organizing an auction in Hong-Kong on October 3rd 2016, in association with Spink. Creating an unmissable event, the auction house will present a rich selection of its specialties. The exhibition and the auction, From Paris to Hong Kong, will take place in the Liang Yi Museum.

This year Artcurial will pay tribute to two artistic fields which are key to the auction house’s reputation: Urban Art and Comic strips. The 9th art will be represented with works by Hergé and several exceptional comic plates by Moebius, including the title page of the deuxième histoire d’Harzak published in 1975. Works by Kaws, JR and Invader make up the Street Art section.

Over the past five years, the number of Asian collectors has doubled each year. This annual gathering is now the occasion for Artcurial to meet with its Asian clients. A debut auction held in October 2015, was a huge success and enabled local collectors to become familiar with Artcurial. It was on this occasion that the auction house organised the first European comic strip auction in Asia.

“Illustrating the pioneering spirit of our auction house, Artcurial returns to Hong-Kong with two of our specialties whose place we helped secure on the international art market scene. The 80 lots gathered in our catalogue complement each other and offer a vibrant panorama of this particular genre of contemporary art. This selection should attract new buyers and will reinforce their understanding regarding our approach and role in this part of the world.” --Isabelle Bresset, Associate Director, Artcurial

Artcurial, Comic Strip pioneer in Asia
Ever faithful to its avant-garde spirit, in October 2015 Artcurial organised the first European comic strip auction in Asia. The inaugural event was an instant success and gathered collectors from around the world who admired key works such as a rare drawing from Lotus Bleu by Hergé which was bought by an Asian collector for 9 625 000 HK$ / 1 107 196 € / 1 241 911 $, making it one of the most expensive comics in the world. Artcurial also set a new world record at auction for a work by Enki Bilal, with La Femme piège (Nikopol - Tome 2), which sold for 3 145 000 HK$ / 361 755 € / 405 799 $.

“We are thrilled to return to Hong-Kong after the success of our first auction.
We continue to project the 9th art beyond boundaries and we are keen to show work by quality artists in a fast-paced part of the world which is passionate about Comics” --Eric Leroy, Comic Strip expert, Artcurial

For this second auction in Hong-Kong, the key names from the European comic strip world will once again be on offer, notably Hergé who will be represented with a spectacular preparatory drawing for the fresco decorating the main stairway at the Centre Culturel Wallonie-Bruxelles in Paris. It was made in 1979 and showed the main characters who took part in the adventures of the little reporter (estimate : 7– 10 M HK$ / 880 000 – 1 320 000 $ / 800 000 – 1 200 000 €). Other highlights include a sketch from Coke en stock and a collection of 10 drawings which were used to illustrate Yvon post cards edited in 1967 (estimate for one: 80 000 – 120 000 HK$ / 9 000 – 14 000 € / 10 000 – 15 000 $). Other lots worth mentioning include a beautiful plate from La Marque jaune, which was the most famous album from the adventures of Blake & Mortimer, a sketch of Gaston Lagaffe by Franquin, and a China ink drawing by Jean Roba with Boule et Bill.

Comic strip authors from the modern period will have an important place in the auction. One will be able to discover two sought after colourful plates by Moebius for Harzak (estimate : 850 000 – 1,3 M HK$ / 100 000 – 150 000 € / 110 000 – 170 000 $), as well as works by Philippe Druillet, with three exceptional plates for La Nuit and two for Salammbô. The auction will include two paintings by Enki Bilal which were included in the exhibition, « Enki Bilal Inbox - Hybridization [in love] » presented in 2016 at the Chanel Nexus Hall in Tokyo and also several plates by the same author including part of Sommeil du monstre, from 1998 (estimate : 680 000 – 1M HK$ / 80 000 – 120 000 € / 88 000 – 132 000 $).

Finally, the auction will offer an impressive selection of drawings by Olivier Ledroit, one of the most famous French authors from the mediaeval fantasy field, including the work used for the cover of the album Requiem – Chevalier Vampire – Tome 1, published in 2016 with Glénat Editions (estimate : 130 000 – 170 000 HK$ / 15 000 – 20 000 € / 17 000 – 23 000 $).

Urban Art conquers Hong-Kong
In 2016, to mark the 10th anniversary of the first urban art auction, Artcurial decided to introduce this speciality for the first time in Asia.

Street Art is relatively scarce in the streets of Chinese cities but it has recently appeared in Hong-Kong on random building walls and also on gallery and auction house walls. An urban festival called HKWALLS was even set up in 2014 and every March it gathers international artists. With its narrow streets, the city is the perfect setting for this new art. The Sheung Wan district where the Liang YI Museum, the location of the From Paris to Hong-Kong auction is being held, is the epicentre of the movement in Hong Kong.

“Urban art is a stream of contemporary art which is gaining momentum around the world even in Asia. We are thrilled to come and exhibit and sell work in Hong-Kong by artists whom we have now been representing in Paris for several years.
Artcurial continues to be a pioneer in the field and seeking out new territories of the contemporary artistic creation.” --Arnaud Oliveux, Urban Art specialist, Artcurial

With a prestigious selection of thirty works, Artcurial’s urban art department will offer collectors who are present onsite, a complete insight into works by the leading artists of the movement.

For the historical graffiti section with its American origins, the auction will offer a colourful pastel and crayon drawing by Jean-Michel Basquiat (estimate : 680 000 – 850 000 HK$ / 80 000 – 100 000 € / 88 000 – 110 000 $).

The pioneers of the European movement will be represented by BANKSY and his leopard barcode from 2004 (estimate: 76 500 – 94 000 HK$ / 9 000 – 11 000 € / 9 900 – 12 100 $).

Finally INVADER and KAWS illustrating the new generation will be presented and the sale includes a mosaic skateboard SK8#2 de 2001 (estimate : 180 000 – 260 000 HK$ / 21 000 – 30 000 € / 23 000 – 33 500 $) and a poster from the Magazine Jalouse from 2007 (estimate : 50 000 – 70 000 HK$ / 5 800 – 8 100 € / 6 500 – 9 000 $).