HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong Fine Chinese Paintings Spring Sale 2010 held today achieved a total of HK$418,212,000/ US$53,616,923, the highest total Sotheby’s has ever achieved for a various-owner Fine Chinese Paintings Sale. Together with the sale of Important Chinese Paintings from the Robert Chang Collection (Part 3), Sotheby’s Hong Kong also established today the highest combined total for any seasonal sale series in this category.

C.K. Cheung, Sotheby's Head of Fine Chinese Paintings department, discussing the sale, said: “Today's sales of Fine Chinese Paintings saw unprecedented success, with the phenomenal total sale result – combined Various-Owner and Single- Owner – of HK$418 million (against a presale combined estimate of HK$241,097,000-289,858,000/ US$30,919,871-37,161,280), achieving Sotheby's highest ever seasonal total for this category. Our results are testament to the appeal of our strategy of assembling a sale of great quality works, fresh to the market at attractive estimates and letting the market set the prices. Buyers and bidders both in the packed saleroom and participating on the telephone through Sotheby's representatives from all over Asia responded with extraordinary enthusiasm, and especially during the Various-Owners portion of the sale collectors frequently ignored presale estimates to pursue desirable works: Fu Baoshi's "Chess Playing" from 1943 sold for HK$38.74 million multiplying the estimate of HK$5-7million, while Zhang Daqian’s 1981 "Hanging Scroll Landscape" brought HK$21,94 million (est. HK$3.2-4.5 million) and his 1948 "Landscape After Ancient Master" (Lot 652) more than tripled its high estimate (HK$5 million) to fetch the impressive price of HK$16.34 million; Pan Tianshou’s "Hen On The Rock" fetched HK$17.46 million, doubling its high estimate of HK$7 million. From the Robert Chang Collection (Part 3), the renowned ink master Qi Baishi’s exceptional work "Tiger" (Lot 527) commanded the strong price of over HK$32 million and there was keen competition for the works of Fu Baoshi and Lin Fengmian as well.”

Various-Owner Sale of Fine Chinese Paintings
• Estimate: HK$72,897,000-102,958,000 / US$9,345,769-13,199,743
• Total: HK$304,897,000 / US$39,089,358

Important Chinese Paintings from the Robert Chang Collection (Part 3)
• Estimate: HK$168,200,000-186,900,000/ US$21,564,102-23,961,538
• Total: HK$113,315,000 / US$14,527,564