2025 falls during the Hong Kong Art Week, and Christie’s “20th and 21st Century Evening Sale” will be held as scheduled at 19:00 on March 28 at The Henderson in Hong Kong.The total transaction amount of 43 lots in this auction reached HK$560 million, with a total transaction rate of 91%, and a total of 18 lots with a price of tens of millions of yuan were born,17 million-dollar lots,Among them, 33% of the lots were sold above the estimated price, and 58% were sold within the estimated price. 

Transaction Highlight 1
Jean-Michel Basquiat's Saturday NightThe painting was sold for HK$112,625,000 / USD14,544,212, becoming the highest-priced work sold in the auction and the most expensive work sold in Asia this spring., confirming the continued strong demand among Asian collectors for top Western art masterpieces.

Transaction Highlight 2

The buyers on site were bidding fiercely.In this session, there was a bidding number to purchase 3 artworks, with a total hammer price of HKD 64,000,000, including Pierre-Auguste-Renoir's "Promenade des Beaux-Arts (Forest of Noirmoutier Island)", René-Magritte's "The Clairvoyance", and Marc-Chagall's "The Tightrope Walker".

Transaction Highlight 3
 

A total of 18 million-dollar auction items were created,

· Zao Wou-Ki"28.8.67" was sold for HK$48,775,000, Zao Wou-Ki's "05.09.2003" was sold for HK$17,315,000, Zao Wou-Ki's "11.2.67" was sold for HK$14,895,000,

· René MagritteEdward James's Dream was sold for HK$47,565,000, René Magritte's Clairvoyance was sold for HK$28,810,000,

· Yayoi Kusama"Pumpkin (Hru)" was sold for HK$39,095,000, and Yayoi Kusama's "Pumpkin (Small)" was sold for HK$13,685,000.

· Pierre-Auguste-Renoir"Seaside Promenade (Forest of Noirmoutier Island)" was sold for HK$34.86 million.

Adrian Gurney"Untitled (A Tribute to Henri Rousseau)" was sold for HK$23,365,000.

· Zhu Dequn"Glorious Chapter" was sold for HK$14.29 million and Chu Teh-Chun's "No. 269" was sold for HK$10.055 million.

· Zhang Enli"Intimacy" was sold for HK$23,365,000.

Marc Chagall"The Tightrope Walker" was sold for HK$14.895 million.

TOP1 of this transaction:

Jean-Michel Basquiat's Saturday Night was sold for HK$95 million, plus commission of HK$113 million.

Xu Wenjun, Head of Evening Sales, 20th and 21st Century Art, Asia Pacific, Christie’s“We are very honored to present this extraordinary work. When works of this magnitude come to auction, Asian collectors always show enthusiasm for the auction. Saturday Night continues Christie’s record of Basquiat sales in Hong Kong. Currently, seven of the top ten Basquiat works sold in Asia were sold by Christie’s.”

In addition to its impressive auction results, Christie’s has also actively cultivated the Asian market for Basquiat’s works by hosting prestigious museum-level exhibitions. In 2021, “Radiance: Masterpieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat” will be launched in Hong Kong and Shanghai;During the 2023 Seoul Art Week, the exhibition "Heads On: Basquiat and Warhol" was presented, and "Saturday Night" was exhibited in this exhibition.

TOP2 of this transaction:

Zao Wou-Ki's "28.8.67" was sold for HK$40 million, plus commission for HK$48,775,000.

This work has been registered in the archive of the Zhao Wuji Foundation (Information provided by the Zhao Wuji Foundation)

TOP3 transactions in this session:

René Magritte's "The Dream of Edward James" was sold for HK$39 million, plus commission for HK$47,565,000.

Several artists set new auction records
Zhang Enli, Long Jiasheng, Gong Kan and many other artists set new personal records;
Many artists, including Christine Aizhu and Xia Yu, set new second-highest prices for artists;
Li Shengzi set a new record for the third highest price for an artist;

Other sold lots:

In addition to the top three most expensive lots, the auction also includes many masterpieces by Chinese and Western artists, including Yayoi Kusama, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, René Magritte, Adrien Gheny, Zao Wou-Ki, Marc Chagall and other artists.

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For more details on the auction items, please click on the special session