This time, Sotheby's under the spotlight became the protagonist of the autumn shoot in 2018, not just the wind vane.
On the evening of September 30th, Sotheby’s “Modern Art Evening Auction” and “Contemporary Art Evening Auction”, 91 special auctions were held in two special sessions, and HK$1.56 billion was won, breaking the modern and contemporary art of Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. The late auction record became a night enough to be included in the history of Hong Kong auctions. Among them, with the strong performance of Zao Wou-Ki, the "modern art" night shoots a total of 1.109 billion Hong Kong dollars; "Contemporary Art" special harvest of 455 million Hong Kong dollars, two night shots have increased in different degrees compared to the spring of 2018, the total turnover rate It reached 91.2%.
Despite the recent turmoil in the economic environment, the unstoppable Zao Wou-Ki and the extraordinary performances of Hong Kong Sotheby's evening shots have given all parties reason to remain more optimistic and optimistic about the next auction.
Unprecedented? Zhao Wuji pushes a new era of Asian modern art auction
As early as the beginning of September, Sotheby’s has announced the most important ace of the season – June to October 1985, the largest size in history, with a valuation of HK$350 million in Zao Wou-ki’s masterpiece. The month’s propaganda war constantly occupies the front page of all kinds of news, and it hangs everyone’s appetite.
In the supplementary note before the filming, Sotheby’s has indicated that June-October 1985 is an auction of “irrevocable bids”, that is, the buyer has already secured the offer. However, at 5 o'clock on September 30, after a short heat, the scene after the filming of "June to October 1985" was quite different from what many expected.
Sebastian Fahey, General Manager of Sotheby's Asia Business, competes for Zao Wou-Ki's "June-October 1985" Sebastian Fahey, General Manager of Sotheby's Asia Business, competes for Zao Wou-Ki, June-October 1985
According to the previous auction practice, it is necessary for a high-priced product to undergo a series of difficult games and waits before a real winner can emerge. However, after the auctioneer reported a starting price of HK$300 million, the start and end of the competition was staggering. The bidders were mainly commissioned by Vinci Chang, director of the Modern Asian Art Department, and Sebastian Fahey, general manager of the Asian region. From HK$300 million, they experienced a 6-point increase to HK$450 million. There is not much hesitation, Zhang Jiazhen’s The telephone commission was decisively abandoned, and the auctioneer looked around for a week of ruin. Many of the audience members had not even had time to pick up the mobile phone record, which was overwhelmed by the applause of the audience.
"June to October 1985" has a record of 450 million, and the turnover of 510 million has set three records for Zao Wou-Ki, Asian Oil Painting and Hong Kong Painting Auction.
The price of HK$510 million not only refreshed the record of Zao Wou-Ki's personal auction, but also the record of Asian oil painting auctions and the highest paintings in the history of Hong Kong auctions. As the largest piece of work created by Zao Wou-Ki's life, "June-October 1985" was the turning point that Zao Wou-ki was commissioned by Pei-Ming in 1985 [Related reading: Sotheby’s shot of 350 million Zhao Wuji has a good story for every pen.] In 2005, "June to October 1985" was auctioned at Christie's in Hong Kong for 18 million. After 13 years, the price jump of 28 times and 490 million Hong Kong dollars was just like the recent madness of Zao Wou-ki. HK$510 million is not only more than double the previous record of 236 million Hong Kong oil paintings, but also pushes the “Zhao Wuji boom” to the top. Not only has there been no one in the past, but for a long time in the future, I am afraid that there will be no more.
In the future, this largest Zao Wou-ki work in history may be the most expensive Asian oil painting in the future. This largest Zao Wou-ki work in history may be the most expensive Asian oil painting.
Under the influence of this craze, most of Zao Wou-Ki's oil paintings except June-October 1985 have achieved satisfactory results. For example, Zao Wou-Ki's "Wild Grass Period" masterpiece "23.05.64" was won by the on-site buyer for HK$90.833 million, ranking second in the field. "15.12.60" between the "Oracle" and "Crazy" transition period started from HK$15 million and was auctioned to HK$4,100. It was bought by a female buyer of No. 5888 for HK$48.16 million. After the family, he participated in the auction of several pieces of focus, and successfully photographed Zao Wou-ki's "25.02.65" for HK$28.92 million. This Sotheby's modern art evening film has a total of 10 pieces of Zhao Wuji's works. In addition to 3 pieces of paper, the other transactions have been successfully completed, reaching nearly 700 million Hong Kong dollars, accounting for 63% of the turnover of modern art.
