A 1960s oil painting of Balinese villagers by Indonesia’s Lee Man Fong fetched a record HK$25.3 million ($3.3 million) at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. The 2-meter-long “Bali Life,” depicting a rustic scene of the islanders at rest, became the most expensive Southeast Asian artwork at auction.

Prices for contemporary Chinese art, which dropped 70 percent during the global financial crisis from their early-2008 peak, also showed signs of a rebound. “Bright Road,” a painting by Liu Ye, fetched HK$19.1 million ($2.5 million), three times the top estimate and an artist record.