Respectable Results at Sotheby's Evening Sale in Hong Kong

The final sale of the evening was the 50th Anniversary Contemporary Evening Auction, led by several record breakers including Yayoi Kusama’s Pumpkin (L), which went to a phone bidder with Nicolas Chow, Chairman of Asia, for HK$62.64 million (US$7.98 million) and set a new world auction record for a sculpture by the artist. Other works by the eminent Japanese artist also saw fervent bidding. A-Pumpkin (BAGN8), a painting that captures the artist’s iconic pumpkin and infinity motifs, realised HK$55.17 million (US$7 million). Created in 2018, My Heart is Flying to the Universe marked the first time a mirror room by the artist was offered at auction in Asia, and just the second time one of this size has come to auction. After tense bidding with interest coming in online and over the phone, the work sold to an online bidder for HK$25.85 million (US$3.29 million).

Fresh to the market, Yoshitomo Nara’s In the Milky Lake sold to a phone bidder with Alex Branczik, Chairman of Modern & Contemporary Art, Asia, for HK$100.56 million (US$12.81 million), while Sprout in Hands, a painterly response to the devastating Great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011, fetched HK$18.12 million (US$2.31 million).

FRONT: YAYOI KUSAMA, PUMPKIN (L) . LOT SOLD FOR 62,638,000 HKD; BACK: YOSHITOMO NARA, IN THE MILKY LAKE . LOT SOLD FOR 100,555,000 HKD

A stellar lineup of works by women artists filled the saleroom with a frenzied energy. A brilliant example of Cecily Brown’s ability to render the emotional and physical interactions between humans and the environment, Where They Are Now achieved HK$21.62 million (US$2.75 million). Other signifcant lots include Loie Hollowell’s Standing in Red, which soared above estimates to reach HK$17.99 million (US$2.29 million), setting a new world auction record for the artist. Anna Park’s charcoal drawing Hero Mentality drew immense interest across bidders online, over the phone and in the saleroom before selling to the room bidder for HK$2.79 million (US$355,928). Louise Bonnet’s Tennis Player more than doubled its high estimate and sold for HK$5.33 million (US$ 679,498), while Lucy Bull’s The Morning Effect, an oil on linen painting from 2019 quickly rose to more than double its high estimate reaching HK$6.6 million (US$841,284). Part of a generation of overlooked female artists being written back into the canon as an important figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement, Lynne Drexler’s Flowering Judas, painted in 1958-60, was quick to surpass estimates, realising HK$7.34 million (US$ 938,355). With its vibrant hues of reds, pinks, and greens, the work captures the delicate petals of the Judas Tree – a reoccurring source of inspiration for the artist.