Hong Kong's modern and contemporary art evening auctions generated a combined $184.6 million across Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips, highlighting sustained international interest in major works while confirming a more selective approach among collectors.
Strong results for landmark works
Sotheby's opened the season with a dedicated sale of works by Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita from the Joe Lewis collection, reaching $8.7 million. Foujita's Le rêve (Hommage à La Fontaine) from 1949 led the group at $3.38 million, significantly exceeding its estimate.
Including this collection, Sotheby's posted $124.3 million and a 91 percent sell-through rate, its strongest Hong Kong evening-sale total since autumn 2023. Yoshitomo Nara's Present achieved $9.13 million, becoming the house's top lot in the main sale.
Christie's 20th- and 21st-century evening auction realized $92.6 million, up 28 percent from the prior year. Jean-Michel Basquiat's Ancient Scientist sold for $9.81 million, the season's highest auction result in Asia. Active competition also surrounded works by Peter Paul Rubens and Liu Ye, reflecting continued cross-regional demand for historically significant and established contemporary artists.
A market guided by discernment
The results showed that provenance, medium and individual work quality are increasingly influential in bidding decisions. Christie's achieved a fully sold evening sale after adjusting its offering before the auction, while Phillips completed its 16-lot sale with an 87.5 percent sell-through rate and more than $6.4 million in total sales.
Phillips' leading work, Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (522-1) from 1983, sold for $2.93 million. The house is expanding its focus on tailored client services and distinctive collecting categories, aiming to create opportunities beyond the market's most familiar segments.
Across the season, the strongest prices were concentrated around works with clear artistic importance and compelling collecting narratives. This measured environment suggests that Hong Kong will continue evolving as a key meeting point for Asian and global collectors, with curation and connoisseurship likely to play an even larger role in the art market's future.
