HONG KONG.- The Christie's Hong Kong completed its Day and Evening Sales of Asian Contemporary Art and Chinese 20th Century Art on May 30th, 2010. Together with the ground-breaking 100% sell-through Evening Sale that totalled HK$303 million/US$39 million, the combined total of the Day and Evening Sales recorded a total of HK$523.4 million / US$67.2 million, an increase of 85% from Spring 2009 that nearly doubled our nearest international competitor.

Eric Chang, Christie’s International Director of Asia Contemporary Art and Chinese 20th Century Art, commented, "The momentum of the 100% sell-through Evening Sale the night before carried us into the highly successful Day Sales that began in the early afternoon and lasted late into the night. Together with the Evening Sale total of HK$303 million/US$39 million, the combined total of HK$523.4 million / US$67.2 million marks a 85% over our Spring 2009 results and doubling that of our nearest international competitor.

The Chinese 20th Century sale star lot was Chen Yifei's String Quartet in the Evening Sale, which broke a new auction record at HK$61.1 million/US$7.85 million. Works by Chinese artist Zao Wou-ki also dominated the top lots in both the Day and Evening Sales. The successful sale of all seventeen works offered, which spanned his half-century career, demonstrates that this celebrated master stands as one of the most highly sought-after artist today.

The Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art of Lawrence and Kathy Schiller of Southern California, led by Zeng Fanzhi's Mask Series which nearly doubled its high estimate to sell for HK$ 19.7 million/ US$ 2.5 million, totalled HK$31.7 million/ US$4.06 million. A portion of the proceeds has been donated to benefit the Animals Asia Foundation.

Looking across the wide spectrum of Asian Contemporary art, Chinese, Japanese and Korean art all posted impressive prices. Numerous records were broken, including works by Japanese artists Tomoko Konoike and Akira Yamaguchi, Korean artist Lee Jae Sam and Chinese artists Ding Yi and Yu Youhan. Conversely, top quality Western contemporary art also proved to be in high demand when Andy Warhol's Mao sold well over the high estimate at HK$6.62 million/US$850,008, the first work by a Western artist to be offered in our Hong Kong Evening Sale.

This season also saw an ever-growing number of participants from all over the world, including Norway, Switzerland, Germany, France, Israel, the UK and the US, many of whom bid through Christie's LIVE, as well as exceptional Asian participation.

Developing both breadth and depth in the Asian Contemporary and Chinese 20th Century Art category, Christie's has succeeded in bringing together collectors from around the world to gather in Hong Kong to acquire the best contemporary art from the region."