Christie's sets record with Asia art sales, eyes more

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Global auction house Christie's sold a record $310.7 million worth of Asian art at its Hong Kong spring sales this week, cementing the region's reputation as one of the most promising in a thriving international market.

The tally was Christie's highest ever for an Asian sales series and a 58 percent increase on the same event last year.

The auctions featured a characteristic smattering of record results in various categories of artwork, anchored by an especially strong showing of Chinese and Asian contemporary art.

"The results of our Hong Kong spring sales highlight the importance of Asia for Christie's and the potential that this region offers," said Edward Dolman, CEO of Christie's International.

A diptych painting by top Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi "Mask Series 1996 No. 6" fetched $9.7 million, setting a new mark for Asian contemporary artwork at a glamorous evening sale which raked in $104.6 million, a 33 percent increase from last spring.

While Chinese artists hogged headlines, other emerging Asian talent, including 29 Japanese contemporary artists, 10 from India and 10 South Koreans, saw record prices paid for their work.

The strong Asia showing -- well in excess of pre-sale estimates -- comes on the heels of a spectacular auction series of postwar and contemporary Western artwork by Christie's and rival Sotheby's in New York earlier this month.

Sotheby's sold Francis Bacon's "Triptych, 1976" for $86 million, setting a record for post-war art, while Christie's sale of Lucian Freud's "Benefits Supervisor Sleeping" established a new mark for any living artist when it sold for $33.6 million.