Asian art beats expectations in Hong Kong auction
A painting by Chinese artist Chu The-chun fetched 3.2 million dollars at auction in Hong Kong Sunday, underscoring a growing worldwide taste for Asian art.
The inky black and red “Rouge, La pluie de petals sur le village; Blanc, Le nuage au-dessus de la maison No. 53″, painted in 1960, sold for more than six times its asking price of 512,000 dollars.
Auctioneers Christie’s said the sale set a record for a work by Chu, who is considered among the greatest of China’s modern masters.
Other works by modern Asian artists also fetched higher than expected prices.
“Flowers in a Bright Yellow Vase” by Chinese artist Sanyu (1901-1966) was sold for 2.7 million dollars and “Garden” by fellow Chinese painter Liao Chi-chun (1902-1976) went for 2.18 million dollars.
In just a few years Hong Kong has overtaken Tokyo as the Asian focus of the world art market, driven mostly by the emergence of wealthy Chinese.
