Christie's Hong Kong Chinese Painting sales fetches a whopping $97,036,866

KOLKATA: Christie's Hong Kong Chinese Painting sales this spring achieved HK$748,741,250/US$97,036,866 over the course of two days, with an overall sold rate of 87% by lot and 94% by value.

Ben Kong, deputy chairman of Asia, international director of Christie's Chinese Paintings Department, said in an email statement, ""The Chinese paintings sales saw a strong sell-through rate, indicative of the level of connoisseurship prevalent in Asia with particular appreciation for good provenance.

""For example, the work titled Horses by Pu Ru, a talented Chinese painter and calligrapher, sold for multiples of its pre-sale estimates. Wu Guanzhong's Bamboos and Bada Shanren's Landscape, which are fresh to the market, achieved top results in their respective sale categories. Given the positive feedback since we first introduced the Contemporary Ink private selling exhibitions in 2012, we are pleased to announce the inclusion of this category in Christie's upcoming fall auctions."