Hong Kong—September 17, 2025—Celebrating its tenth anniversary in Asia, Phillips will present a dazzling array of masterpieces in its "Modern and Contemporary Art" Hong Kong Autumn Sale, taking place September 27–28. The September 27 evening sale will feature iconic works by international masters, including Yoshitomo Nara, Zao Wou-Ki, Pop Art pioneers Tom Wesselmann and Andy Warhol, as well as Yayoi Kusama and Japanese-American artists Ruth Asawa and Georges Mathieu. The evening sale will also highlight works by emerging artists such as Hao Liang, Loie Hollowell, Jonathan Gardner, and Lucas Arruda. The September 28th Day Sale showcases the diverse facets of Modern and Contemporary art collecting, encompassing small works by modern masters, rare works by blue-chip contemporary artists, and striking works by emerging stars. Particularly noteworthy are two significant private collections: one, a significant collection of works from the family of a close friend of Zao Wou-Ki during his time in France, unseen for over 75 years; and the other, a Southeast Asian private collection centered around works by Mei Chung-Shu. A public preview will be held at Phillips' Asia headquarters in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District from September 22nd to 28th, inviting collectors and art enthusiasts to view these treasures.

Wanting Su, Director of Auctions at Phillips Hong Kong, and Hu Di, Head of Sale, Modern and Contemporary Art Department at Phillips Hong Kong, jointly stated: “This season’s auctions offer collectors a rare opportunity to showcase the most influential blue-chip contemporary artists and post-war masters. Nearly two-thirds of the works in the evening sale are making their auction debut, and nine other masterpieces have not appeared on the open market in the past 16 years. Coinciding with Phillips’ tenth anniversary in Asia, this season’s Modern and Contemporary Art auctions in Hong Kong are of great significance to us and the collectors who have witnessed this extraordinary journey with us. Highlights include classic works that have long been treasured in private collections, works with important exhibition histories, and treasures with illustrious provenance – including a 2000 painting by Yoshitomo Nara that is appearing at auction for the first time, an 18th-century painting by Tom Wesselman that set an auction record and is held by the same collector. "We are honored to highlight the remarkable work of several pioneering women artists, in conjunction with the upcoming M+ special exhibition, 'In Dreams: Environmental Works by Women Artists from the 1950s to the Present,' opening adjacent to Phillips' Asia headquarters."

Leading masterpiece

Yoshitomo Nara
Pink, 2000
Acrylic on canvas, 160 x 145 cm
Estimate: HK$60,000,000-80,000,000

This season's evening sale is led by Yoshitomo Nara's previously announced auction debut, "Pink." Painted in 2000, the same year that holds both of Nara's current auction records, only 11 of the 33 paintings Nara created that year share the same "half-length" composition. "Pink" is the first of only four works of the same title to date, making it a truly remarkable achievement. While initially simple, "Pink" reveals a complex emotional landscape through its richly layered acrylic technique, each brushstroke bearing the artist's hand.

Zao Wou-Ki
27.01.86, 1986
Oil on canvas, 200 x 162 cm
Estimate: HK$30,000,000 – 40,000,000

Another highlight of the evening sale is Zao Wou-Ki's "27.01.86." In this work, Zao Wou-Ki utilizes the various qualities of ink, thick and thin, dry and wet, to create a multi-dimensional sense of space and vast momentum, resembling a tree of life spreading and growing into infinite space, symbolizing the vigorous growth of life. Between 1985 and 1990, Zao Wou-Ki created many similar works, and among these single compositions, "27.01.86" stands out as one of his most extensive and intricate masterpieces. In 1988, he was commissioned to create the promotional poster "Tree of Life" for the Seoul Olympic Committee, also based on this work, "27.01.86," embodying the Olympic spirit. This work holds a prominent place in Zao Wou-Ki’s artistic career. Shortly after its completion, it was exhibited in a major solo exhibition at the Galerie Artcurial in Paris in 1988. It was subsequently included in a major Zao Wou-Ki retrospective at the Ishibashi Foundation’s Bridgestone Museum of Art in Tokyo in 2004. It was also included in the book Twentieth-Century Chinese Art and Artists by Oxford University Fellow and art historian Michael Sullivan. These recognitions demonstrate the work’s artistic appeal that transcends cultural and geographical boundaries.

Tom Whitman
Smoker 17, 1975
Oil on canvas 243.8 x 332.7 cm
Estimate: HK$20,000,000 – 30,000,000

This season's evening auction of Western art is led by Tom Wesselmann's "Smoker 17," a key figure in the American Pop Art movement. This work previously sold at a New York auction in May 2007, setting a world record for the artist at the time. The "Smoker" series, which Wesselmann began creating in 1967, marks a pivotal breakthrough in his exploration of sensuality, form, and painterly detail within American Pop Art. The importance of this series is further underscored by the fact that "Smoker 1" from this series is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The inspiration for this series stemmed from a serendipitous moment during the creation of his "Lips" series, when the sight of a lit cigarette and its curling smoke imbued the image with a new eroticism and visual complexity. "Smoker 17," offered in this auction, exemplifies this shift: the full red lips, elegant gesture, and languid puffs of smoke intertwine to create a cinematic allure and psychological tension.

Female art pioneers who broke through the boundaries

Works by female artists continue to garner global attention, and Phillips is pleased to present this season, across both its Evening and Day sales, masterpieces by some of the most celebrated female artists in contemporary art. Highlights include the diverse and rich oeuvre of Yayoi Kusama, from her iconic "Infinity Net" canvases to hand-painted denim jackets. Another artist worthy of note is Japanese-American Ruth Asawa, whose work debuts at auction in Hong Kong and builds on the attention generated by her first solo exhibition in Greater China, held at David Zwirner's Hong Kong gallery last fall. As one of the few Asian female artists widely acclaimed in the Western art world, Asawa has been the subject of several major museum exhibitions in recent years, and a landmark retrospective will open at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in October 2025.

Ruth Asawa
Untitled S.013 (Suspended Single Petal, Five Continuous Nested Forms), 1987
Hanging sculpture, braided oxidized copper wire, 20 x 29 x 29 cm
Estimate: HK$2,200,000 - 4,200,000

Ruth Asawa's wire weaving blurs the lines between sculpture and craft, highbrow and lowbrow. Trapped in an internment camp during World War II because of her Japanese descent, she transforms the trauma and suffering wrought by barbed wire into a creative language, transforming the binding wire into a medium that connects life and freedom. In "Untitled S.013," presented in this season's Evening Sale, the entanglement and openness of lines create both void and solidity. Asawa weaves, bends, and twists the wire with her hands, each loop registering the rhythm of her body. In this work, she uses weaving techniques learned from traditional Mexican crafts to reintroduce light, air, and touch into her artistic narrative, creating a form that is both transparent and full, light yet stable.

Roy Hollowell
Hanging (Downward), 2016
Oil and acrylic on linen mounted on wood panel.
121.9 x 91.4 cm
Estimate: HK$4,500,000 – 6,500,000

Loie Hollowell's "Hanging (Downward)" is a pivotal work in her career, exemplifying her unique fusion of geometric abstraction and bodily symbolism. Through vibrant colors and symmetrical forms, the work evokes reflections on femininity, sexuality, and political tensions, particularly the media's treatment of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 US presidential election. First exhibited in her sold-out solo exhibition, "Mother Tongue," the painting marked the beginning of her hybrid approach, fusing elements of painting and sculpture. Drawing on the legacy of pioneering female artists like Agnes Pelton and Georgia O'Keeffe, the work incorporates spiritual symbolism and sensual forms, echoing their iconic visual languages.

Masters of 20th-century modern art
In addition to Zao Wou-Ki's masterpiece, "27.01.86," this Hong Kong auction features masterpieces by numerous 20th-century masters from both the East and the West. Highlights include works by Georg Baselitz, Pierre Soulages, Salvador Dalí, Georges Mathieu, and Chu Teh-Chun. Two exceptional collections of Asian modern art will be featured, highlighting rare works by Zao Wou-Ki and Mei Chung-Thu.

George Matthew
Air France, 1967
Oil on canvas, 175.7 x 451 cm
Estimate: HK$3,000,000-5,000,000
Georges Mathieu was a pivotal figure in postwar abstract art, hailed as a pioneer of Lyrical Abstraction. Rejecting the constraints of geometric form, he championed pure, unfettered brushstrokes—whether using a long-handled brush to create sweeping, calligraphic lines or squeezing paint directly from the tube, creating works with explosive immediacy and speed. Through major retrospectives and public commissions in the 1960s and 1970s, Mathieu's influence extended to tapestry, sculpture, architecture, and design. This evening sale features a monumental work, originally commissioned by Air France and debuting in an exhibition inaugurated by the French Minister of Culture. It embodies the artist's philosophy of "no preconceived form" and the almost ecstatic, Dionysian energy that permeates his signature works.

Zao Wou-Ki
Untitled, 1948
Oil on cardboard, 37 x 46 cm
Estimate: HK$2,000,000 – 3,000,000

Upon arriving in Paris in 1948, Zao Wou-Ki quickly forged a close friendship with Claude Bottemer and his wife. Family anecdotes suggest that his brother once traded French lessons for ping-pong lessons. Bottemer, a journalist for the French newspaper Alsace République, engaged in the underground resistance during World War II under the pseudonym Claude, a name he retained. A lover of literature and art, he also engaged in amateur sculpture and may have met Zao Wou-Ki at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris the same year. This season, Phillips is honored to present six previously unseen Zao Wou-Ki works in its day sale, treasured by the Bottemer family for over 75 years. These works bear witness to this precious friendship during the artist's early years in France. A highlight is Untitled, created in 1948, marking a turning point in Zao's work's departure from figurative representation and traditional perspective.

Chu Teh-Chun
Veiled Transparency, 2003
Oil on canvas, 130 x 96.5 cm
Estimate: HK$2,000,000 – 3,000,000

Chu Teh-Chun is undoubtedly an internationally acclaimed master of Chinese-American abstract painting. His works are renowned for their bold, powerful brushstrokes and fluid use of color. They fuse traditional Chinese brush and ink techniques with Western Abstract Expressionism, embodying a profound resonance of Eastern and Western aesthetics and philosophies. "Veiled Transparency," presented in the Day Sale, is a prime example of his lyrical abstract style. Through layers of translucent oil paint, he evokes a natural, flowing vitality, like water. His fluid, almost calligraphic brushstrokes evoke dynamic rhythms, the mystique of memory, and a dreamlike tranquility. This work, featured in the 2004 retrospective exhibition "Forgetting Both Self and Object: Paintings by Chu Teh-Chun" at the University of Hong Kong Art Museum and Museum, showcased the artist's exquisite control of light and shadow, as well as his unique ability to bridge Eastern and Western artistic traditions, solidifying his unshakable position in the history of Chinese and French art.

Mei Zhongshu
A Stroll in the Garden, 1971
Gouache on silk, artist frame
57.5 x 31 cm
Estimate: HK$800,000 – 1,200,000

Mai Trung Thu was a key figure in Vietnam's emerging progressive artistic community of the 1930s. He was one of the first Vietnamese painters to receive formal training in Western painting techniques at the Indochina School of Fine Arts, a classmate alongside Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam, and Le Thi Thu. He also became one of the first Vietnamese painters to establish a career in Paris and achieve international acclaim. Known for his paintings on silk, Mai captured the poetic essence of everyday Eastern life through his depictions of elegant women, innocent children, and domestic scenes. His work, merging Eastern and Western aesthetics, exemplifies the evolution of Vietnam's modern artistic identity. "A Stroll in the Garden," offered in this season's Day Sale, embodies Mai Trung Thu's distinctive visual vocabulary: a fusion of folk imagery and Western abstraction, employing flat blocks of color, elegant contours, and delicate lines to embody the Modernist pursuit of simplicity. The balanced composition of the woman and two children walking against a fantastical emerald background creates a soft, nostalgic atmosphere, evoking the artist's vision of a utopian Vietnam.

Andy Warhol
Pink Heart, 1982
Acrylic, silkscreen ink, and diamond dust on canvas, 38 x 38 cm
Estimate: HK$1,600,000-2,400,000
Representatives of Eastern and Western Pop Art

In early 1979, Andy Warhol created a series of small-scale heart paintings inspired by the Valentine's Day heart symbol, originally intended as gifts for his Studio 54 friends. The artist had used the heart shape sporadically as early as the 1950s, and by the early 1980s, he systematically returned to the motif, creating several series of works. "Pink Heart," presented in this season's evening sale for the first time, represents a later period in his career that employed universal symbols, such as skulls and dollar signs. These vibrant, visually striking works, both decorative and commercially successful, further solidified his artistic standing. This work is more than just a depiction of the heart symbol; it exemplifies his Pop Art-inspired deconstruction and reimagining of emotional symbols. Through delicate gradations and subtle color nuances, he encapsulates emotion within familiar symbols, transforming gifts into art and art into a silent yet enduring gift.

Takashi Murakami
I Gaze into Your Eyes, 2020
Acrylic on canvas, 150 cm diameter
Estimate: HK$3,500,000 – 5,500,000

A leading figure in the Superflat movement at the turn of the millennium, Takashi Murakami has consistently fused high art with popular culture. Characterized by vibrant colors and exaggerated forms, his work draws on elements of anime, manga, and traditional Japanese art, using a vibrant visual vocabulary to convey a profound critique of consumerism, historical memory, and cultural identity. The artist's playful yet poignant aesthetic is fully embodied in "I Gaze Into Your Eyes," presented in this season's Day Sale. Composed of vibrant concentric circles, the work invites the viewer into a seemingly superficial yet deeply contemplative, paradoxical state of being, "inside and out."

Chinese Contemporary Art

Contemporary Chinese art, particularly works by artists born between the 1970s and 1990s, has generated enthusiastic bidding and impressive sales at Phillips' Hong Kong auctions in recent seasons. This season, Phillips is proud to once again present a captivating selection of contemporary Chinese art, including works by Zeng Fanzhi, Huang Yuxing, Hao Liang, Yue Minjun, Fang Yuan, Chen Fei, and Wang Qianyao.

Hao Liang
Yucheng Transformed into a Butterfly, 2010
Heavy color on silk, 166 x 98 cm
Estimate: HK$3,800,000-5,800,000

The Evening Sale presents "Yucheng Transformed into Butterfly," a work by post-80s artist Hao Liang. From a bird's-eye view, the work depicts a deserted classical city, shrouded only by the fluttering of butterflies, their wings casting shadows that resemble both the ghosts of history and the flames of life. Inspired by the metamorphosis of the city called "Clarice" in Italian author Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities," the work transforms the literary allegory into a visual narrative: the fluttering of butterflies imbues the ancient city with a dreamlike rebirth, forging a tension between lightness and heaviness, the momentary and the eternal. Hao Liang's meticulous silk painting inherits the meticulous refinement of Song and Yuan dynasty boundary painting, yet transcends traditional spatial logic to construct a surreal symbolic order. The butterflies not only imbue the image with a sense of reincarnation, but also imbue classical techniques with the power of contemporary allegory. Blending Eastern and Western perspectives, ancient and modern aesthetics, the work flutters between reality and illusion, becoming a cross-cultural love poem dedicated to memory.

Auction Time

Modern & Contemporary Art Hong Kong Evening Sale: September 27, 2025, 7:00 PM
Modern & Contemporary Art Hong Kong Day Sale: September 28, 2025, 2:00 PM
Preview: September 22-28, 11:00-19:00
Location: G/F, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Building, 8 Austin Road West, West Kowloon Cultural District, Kowloon, Hong Kong

* Phillips will adjust its standard buyer's premium rates for its global auctions starting in September 2025 and introduce a "Pre-bid" incentive, allowing prospective buyers to participate in auctions early to enjoy a lower buyer's premium rate. For details, please click here.

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