Displaying items by tag: Hong Kong

Magnus Renfrew, director of ART HK 11, the fourth edition of the Hong Kong International Art Fair, talks about the changing nature of the fair and the appetites of Chinese and Asia-Pacific art collectors.

A series of auctions of high-end goods from fine wine to Imperial Chinese ceramics goes into full swing this weekend in Hong Kong, as the city challenges the dominance of New York and London.

The multi-million-dollar auctions are looking to cash in on the vast wealth of China's growing number of millionaires keen to show off their newly-made cash.

Christie's six-day Spring sale kicks off Friday with more than 2,700 lots, including a rare Patek Philippe watch and several pieces of contemporary art, that the house expects to rake in about HK$2.4 billion ($308 million).

And on Tuesday rival Sotheby's will be hoping buyers will stump up as much HK$130 million for a series of paintings by famed Chinese artist Chang Dai-chien.

"This area is becoming a more and more important market for us," Christie's chief executive Steven Murphy told a press briefing Thursday, adding that Greater China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, was one of the firm's "fastest-growing markets."

Already this week, Bonhams Hong Kong said it posted a "Golden Gavel triumph" with the HK$38.3 million sale of Chinese snuff bottles on Wednesday.

But the big money should begin rolling in from Friday, when Christie's begins its sale, which includes hundreds of Chinese ceramics that may draw more than HK$1 billion and a Patek Philippe watch, which it says could fetch HK$9.5 million.

The auctioneer said its contemporary Asian and Chinese art sale will feature a self portrait of artist Zeng Fanzhi that could sell for HK$35 million.

Acker Merrall & Condit will hold a rare wine sale of 1,100 lots in the financial hub at the weekend, which it expects to take HK$80 million.

Among the rarities on offer are a wooden case of 1945 Mouton Rothschild with a HK$1.4 million high-end estimate and a trio of original wooden cases of 1988 Romanée Conti in "pristine condition", which could sell for HK$960,000, the auctioneer said.

Hong Kong has seen a surge in wine auctions in the past few years with the mainland Chinese market expected to hit $870 million by 2017, about 60 percent of the total Asian wine market excluding Japan.

"Our location obviously makes it very convenient for Asian collectors, particularly those from mainland China, to take part in our auctions," Donald Tong, Hong Kong's most senior trade representative in the US, said Thursday.

A man in marble is giving me the finger.

I'm at Art HK, Asia's leading art fair, and the one-finger salute is from the 2007 sculpture "Marble Arm" by outspoken artist-activist Ai Weiwei. As we all should know by now, Ai was detained by Beijing authorities almost two months ago in an ongoing campaign against Chinese activists. Ai has since been accused of tax evasion.

"Marble Arm" is linked to a series of provocative snapshots featuring Ai raising his middle finger to various symbols of power from the White House to Tiananmen Square.  On reserve, it has a prospective buyer who is willing to pay $280,000 for the work.

And today, that marble middle finger is greeting prospective buyers and curious visitors at Art HK's Galerie Urs Meile exhibition space.

But it is a lonely protest. Among the 260 galleries at the international art fair, "Marble Arm" is the only work by Ai on display.

There are a few "Where is Ai Weiwei?" freebie pins and t-shirts available from Galerie Urs Meile and two other dealers at the fair. But for the most part, at Asian's largest art fair, China's most well-known artist is noticeably missing.

Both the United States and the European Union have called for the artist's release, but the commercial art community in Asia seems to be taking a more, shall we say, diplomatic approach. Art HK director Magnus Renfrew calls Ai Weiwei "an artist who we greatly admire."

And yet Renfrew delivers even more praise for the city of Hong Kong "where freedom of expression is greatly valued, and freedom of expression is protected under the Bill of Rights of Hong Kong and under the Basic Law of Hong Kong.  So it is a very good place for the full variety of voices to be heard."

Those voices are being heard far from the gleaming halls of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

In a gritty industrial space in the city's Chai Wan district, 50 Hong Kong artists are speaking out against Ai's detention in a non-selling exhibition called "Love the Future." In Mandarin, it reads as "Ai Wei Lai," a pun on "Ai Wei Wei" and a code name used by the artist's online supporters when he first went missing.

Sotheby’s (BID) shares have lost a quarter of their value in the past month, a much steeper decline than this volatile stock has seen during any of the critical spring auction periods of the past five years.

The closing price of $40.46 on Tuesday represented a 25.6 percent decline from a 3 1/2-year high of $54.41 on April 5. Sotheby’s gained yesterday to close at $41.95, making the decline about 23 percent.

After falling as low as $6.47 on March 6, 2009, the auction house came back strongly starting late that year and rode its recovery to the April peak. Then the stock got hit hard by disappointing sales in Hong Kong and New York.

“The expectations were getting higher and higher and it was reflected in the stock price,” said Jason Benowitz, portfolio manager at Roosevelt Investment Group Inc., one of Sotheby’s major shareholders which bought the stock in the beginning of 2010 for a price in the low $20s.

In March, a Chinese vase estimated to fetch $800 to $1,200 soared to $18 million at Sotheby’s, becoming the most expensive lot among a dozen Asia Week auctions in New York.

“That story began to change during the last days of the Hong Kong auctions in April where the results were within the estimate range, not exceeding them,” Benowitz said.

The Hong Kong auctions brought in $447 million, a 75 percent increase from last year’s total, said William F. Ruprecht, Sotheby’s president and chief executive officer, during a teleconference with investors last week.

‘First Crack’

Still, Hong Kong saw a major setback with the Meiyintang Collection, marketed as one of the greatest private collections of imperial Chinese porcelain in the world. It brought in $51.2 million including fees, below the $91 million to $137 million presale estimate. Even with some pieces selling privately after the auction, the $88.4 million total fell short of the low estimate.

“That was the first crack in the bubbly confidence that characterized the Asian buying until then,” said Vikram Mansharamani, author of “Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst.”