Artsy Hong Kong

Hong Kong Art Week, held from March 27 to April 1, has become one of the signature events in the global art market.

Aside from the two main events of Art Basel and Art Central, that respectively are going into their sixth and fourth years, there were also plenty of smaller satellite shows around town that week, as well Sotheby’s widely anticipated spring auction.

Asian shows and collectors now are an important part of the global market, with Asia accounting for 23% of global art sales and 15% of private dealer sales, according to media reports. As a prime example, Willem de Kooning’s “Untitled XII” (1975) was sold for the asking price of $35 million within two hours of the VIP opening of Art Basel, coming from the collection of Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. Another notable sale during the week was Zao WouKi’s “Et la Terre Était sans Forme” (1956-57) for HK$183 million. Emerging artists such as Wu Chi-Tsung and Bingyi also had strong sales as well.