Phillips Hong Kong Sale Nets $10m with a ‘Nimble Approach’

News Top Talent on the Move at Christie’s and Phillips Elaine YJ Zheng

Steered by institutionally acclaimed contemporary artists and canonical modernists like Wu Guanzhong and Sanyu, Phillips’ Modern and Contemporary auction in Hong Kong on Monday brought in $10 million (all prices USD and with fees) over day and evening sales.

Reflective of the region’s healthy appetite for art, 92 of 106 lots on offer found a home, with the majority priced in the five to six figure bracket, and 70 percent of lots making their auction debut—a figure that went all the way up to 90 percent of lots in the evening sale.

Phillips’ head of evening sale Cindy Lim and head of sales Rebecca Hu said they chose to adopt a ‘nimbler approach’ for this year’s Hong Kong sale in response to market conditions, with emphasis on ‘fresh’ works that ‘resonated with discerning collectors’.

Leading the sale was George Condo’s 2021 cobalt painting, Blues In F, which sold for $1.8 million (estimate: $1.5–2.6 million). The American artist ranked 33rd worldwide in terms of sales by value last year, with a turnover of $34 million, according to online database Artprice.

Chinese ink painter Wu Guanzhong’s abstract landscape Springs and Autumns (1994) came second, hammering around its high estimate of $615,798, followed by Rashid Johnson’s 2017 ceramic tile painting Untitled Escape Collage for $486,156 and Hernan Bas’ contemplative 2014 portraiture Case study (Harvey, Palmist/glove collector) for $437,540.

The top ten lots by value further included work by market darlings like Zao Wou-Ki (07.04.59, 1959, $421,275), Li Chen (Avalokitesvara, 1999, $307,899), Yayoi Kusama (Infinity (C), 1986, $291,694), Izumi Kato (Untitled, 2022, $275,449), and Jia Aili (Untitled, 2008, $259,246). 

Li Chen’s bronze buddha Avalokitesvara did notably well as one of the rare works from the list fetching above its high estimate, alongside Javier Calleja’s 2022 cartoon portrait The Dream You Dream for $259,246, and Jia Aili’s painting by a small margin.

The majority of paddles came from Mainland Chinese bidders, with works by modern Chinese artists from the 1970s to the 1990s achieving a 100 percent sell-through rate. 

Outperformers include Antony Gormley, whose four-part iron statue from 2021, Peckham Bollards (Peg, Snowman, Penis and Oval), fetched four times its estimate, selling for close to $90,000. 

Meanwhile, Ding Shilun’s 2021 portrait The Dispute (After La Sylphide) more than doubled its estimate, bringing in $56,710, as did Chiharu Shito’s 2020 thread installation State of Being (Dress) and Li Hei Di’s 2022 What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky.

Highlights further included Canadian artist Vickie Vainionpää’s 2023 textured ribbon painting, Rigid and Curved 02, which more than tripled its estimate, selling for $22,684. —[O]