Hong Kong (Shroffed) – Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet’s paintings sold for HK$250,625,000 and HK$233,375,000 respectively at Christie’s 20th/21st Century Evening Sale, falling far behind the expected record-breaking price.
Christie’s has held its 20th/21st Century Evening Sale auction on 26 and 27 September as one of the highlighting auctions following the disclosure of the company’s new Asia Pacific headquarters at The Henderson in Central. The auction was featuring masterpieces by a series of artists including Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Zao Wou-Ki, and Kim Whan-Ki.
An exhibition of auction highlights was on view and open to the public in Christie’s new gallery from 22 to 26 September.
Amidst the evening sale which was held by auctioneer Adrien Meyer, Asian auction records were set for two of the masterpieces of 20th-century art.
Vincent van Gogh’s Les Canots Amarrés (The Moored Boats) was one of the highlights of the evening auction. The painting is a cherished piece of The Royal Family of Bourbon-Two Sicilies collection for over 30 years. Estimated at a record-setting HK$230,000,000 – 380,000,000, the painting was finally sold at HK$250,625,000.
Jacky Ho, deputy head of department, 20th/21st Century Art at Christie’s Asia Pacific, added: “A diverse range of artistic traditions inspired Van Gogh’s creative journey. Van Gogh’s approach was influenced by Impressionism and Pointillism, and his perspective was further widened by Ukiyo-e prints from Asia. In turn, his artistic language opened so many doors for the artists to come in the following century.”
The painting was expected to surpass Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Warrior which sold for HK$323,600,000 in 2021 and become the most expensive Western painting sold in Asia.
According to AFP’s report, Christie’s chairman Cristian Albu said the price was the “record of a Van Gogh in Asia”. Added by Ada Tsui, the head of evening sale, The auction house was “cautious” with its line-up on Thursday in hopes of boosting market confidence, added by Ada Tsui, head of evening sale and specialist for 20th/21st century art.
Similarly, the other centrepiece, Claude Monet’s seminal Nymphéas (Water Lilies) was offered with an estimate of HK$200,000,000 – 280,000,000 and while it was sold at HK$233,375,000.
Created 125 years ago, it had remained in the Monet family for many years and is now being offered from a distinguished private collection. The evening sale marked that Nymphéas was auctioned for the first time in Hong Kong.
“We didn’t want to take any risks—everything of high value is third-party guaranteed. I wanted something safe, fresh and uplifting—it’s been a difficult, strange year for all of us,” said Albu before the evening sale on Thursday evening.
Yuki Terase, a founding partner of the advisory firm Art Intelligence Global, observed the sale and told The Art Newspaper, that activities from Mainland collectors has slowed considerably since Covid due to geopolitical factors.
“I think that’s right for the current environment—people are wanting blue-chip works as they see it as a safe place to put their money.” — Yuki Terase
Blue-chip works refer to those art works of the most recognisable artists, whose pieces consistently sell in volume and at high prices. Terase’s comments on the sale showcase that buyers are playing it safe through picking more classic blue-chip names instead of emerging artists’ works which used to appear a lot in Hong Kong sales.