HONG KONG.- Jonathan Crockett, Chairman, Asia, Phillips, said: “The electric momentum from the Day Sale continued straight into the Evening Sale, where we presented an exceptional selection of works from the Impressionist period to the present day. Riding on the success of last season’s Abstraktes Bild (940-7) by Gerhard Richter which sold for HK$95 million/ US$12 million, this season Kerzenschein (Candle-light) sold for a remarkable HK$102 million/ US$13 million, confirming Asia’s continued interest in leading international contemporary masters. The top ten results also include a diverse selection of works from the Impressionist and Modern masters to auction favourites Yayoi Kusama and Matthew Wong.

I am extremely proud to orchestrate today’s Evening sale in a purpose-built auction room in Hong Kong, installed with eight screens receiving bids from live auction rooms and phone banks in Hong Kong and Beijing, as well as phone banks from Phillips’s New York and London headquarters, it was clear that Asia’s importance in the global art market continues to grow exponentially. We welcomed a record number of over 1,100 global participants from 45 countries across all Phillips bidding platforms over the two-day auction series.

Having just achieved new world auction records for Susumu Kamijo and Izumi Kato in the Day Sale, they were broken once again in the Evening Sale, underscoring the success of our new ULTRA/NEO series, which shines a spotlight on a new generation of ultra-contemporary Asian artists. The Day and Evening sales saw a total of 15 new artist records, notably for Scott Kahn and Billie Zangewa, who made their auction debuts in Asia.”




Alex Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Poly Auction (Hong Kong) Limited, said, “We are pleased with the remarkable result achieved once again by the partnership of Poly Auction and Phillips. The overall sales realised HK$670 million, with a strong sell-through rate of 95%. Highlights of the Evening Sale include this season’s top lot, Kerzenschein (Candle-light) by Gerhard Richter, which sold for an impressive HK$102 million. At the same time, we also witnessed world auction records set for 15 artists, which is incredibly encouraging. The results affirm the confidence that our international collecting community have in the art auction market.

Over the years, the outstanding results achieved by Poly Auction can be entirely attributed to the staunch support of collectors, the public, as well as the media. Next year marks Poly Hong Kong’s 10-year anniversary, with grand celebrations to follow. We will keep on devoting ourselves to the art auction market and continue to diversify our sales and exhibition programme, giving collectors a fresh vision and new opportunities.”

The Day Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design conducted by Phillips and Poly Auction has broken records season after season. Taking place on 29 November, the Day Sale realised over HK$216 million/ US$28 million, more than doubling its pre-sale low estimate and marking an 80% increase over the previous year. With 65% of lots selling above their pre-sale high estimates, the sale was led by UNTITLED (US) by KAWS, which soared to nearly four times its high estimate and eventually sold for a remarkable HK$12 million/ US$1.5 million. There was strong demand for both blue-chip and emerging artists, with KAWS, George Condo and Yayoi Kusama all featuring prominently in the top ten, alongside Javier Calleja and Ayako Rokkaku, whose Untitled ARP 07-013 sold for HK$6.3 million/ US$807,660, setting a new auction record for the artist.

Multiple world records were set for up-and-coming artists, notably Susumu Kamijo, Izumi Kato, Atsushi Kaga, Ayako Rokkaku, Mayuka Yamamoto and Roby Dwi Antono, whose works feature in the ULTRA/NEO section this season, a brand-new themed series centred around a new generation of rising ultra-contemporary Asian talents. The Design category achieved a 100% sell-through rate yet again, marking the sixth consecutive season for the category in a Phillips Hong Kong auction seeing 100% of lots sold since the Pantone Room project started. Once again, these results affirm the success of Phillips' distinctive strategy of curated sale themes and dynamic exhibitions.