Hong Kong fair stokes contemporary art market in Asia
- May 25, 2011 21:20
About 50,000 people are expected to attend HK ART 11, the fourth edition of the Hong Kong International Art Fair, from May 25 to 29, featuring a vast selection of contemporary art by the likes of Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Roy Lichtenstein, Yan Pei-Ming, and more.
From works by emerging artists priced at $1,000 to Warhol's “Colored Maos,” with an asking price of about $50 million from Zurich-based Bruno Bischofberger, a wide range of prices are meant to lure new and seasoned collectors to this fast-growing fair of which the owners of Art Basel are now majority stakeholders.
Top galleries such as White Cube, Gagosian, David Zwirner, and Leo Castelli are among the 260 galleries from 38 countries exhibiting.
“The art market tends to follow wealth and the greatest wealth is being created in Asia,” said fair director Magnus Renfrew to Bloomberg.
Of the quick sales on opening night, White Cube sold “Das Kapital is Kaput, Ya, Nein, Dummkopf,” clay figurines by Jake & Dinos Chapman, to an Asian collector for 525,000 pounds ($850,000), according to Bloomberg.