Blue-Chips Report Deals, While Others Lament Slow Sales

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, art news Newsletter about the art market and beyond. Register here Receive it every Wednesday.

With money flowing but confidence slowly draining away on the first day of Art Basel Hong Kong, a cross-section of 240 galleries provided a range of answers to a simple question: How are sales going?

at Hauser & Wirth, Mark PayotThe host, who hosted a packed booth, described an “extraordinary” start and cited the attendance of serious collectors from across Asia. As of 5 p.m., many key works have been sold. Sculpture by Louise Bourgeois 2002 couplea tender late-career sculpture, sold for $2.2 million, her 2008 etching and mixed-media work on paper, À Baudelaire(#1)sold for $2.95 million. prismatic head A painting by George Condo (2021) that recently left the gallery sold for $2.3 million.

According to Payot, the two most expensive products on the stand were also moved: a 1956 Alexander Calder mobile phone horizontal and Pablo Picasso’s “1965” Chat etcrabe sur la plage (Cats and Crabs on the Beach). The gallery did not disclose the price of the two works. At the same time, Li Biao, the subject of M+ star investigation, also entered another private museum in Asia. Untitled (“Infinity” Wall)priced at $275,000.

“What we’re doing differently this year is combining historical material with contemporary programming, such as Calder paired with Avery Singer; Picasso paired with Ronnie Horn,” Payot said. “We try to keep as many resources as possible for the fair,” he added. “We wouldn’t bring this level of material to any other Asian art fair.”

David Zwirner reported the sale of a 2006 painting by Liu Ye for $3.8 million and a 2002 painting by Marlene Dumas for $3.8 million. Other seven-figure sales include a 1964 Pablo Picasso painting Painting with son model Berlin’s Bastian Gallery sold works by Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun for 3.5 million euros, Waddington Custon sold for $2.8 million and $1.3 million respectively, and works by Alex Katz flowers 1 (2011) for $1.3 million, and Tracey Emin’s take me to heaven (2024) for GBPWhite Cube had 1.2 million viewers.

Lehman Maupin reports that two works by Lee Bul from the early 2000s sold at an Asian museum for $200,000 to $300,000 each, while a Kim Yun Shin sculpture sold to a European collector for about $100,000 to $150,000. Co-founder David Maupin said in a statement: “The Hong Kong art market is clearly in a phase of steady recovery, with new energy felt across the fair and across the city. As a gallery with roots in Asia, the region continues to play an important role in our business.”

Perhaps no dealer can compare Mark GrimcherCEO of Pace Gallery. “Hong Kong is in a better place than it has been in a long time,” Glimcher said, noting that the city’s vitality was “downhill due to COVID-19” and was made worse by the “obvious political situation.” He did not disclose the price, but mentioned that a new painting by Anika Yi, who recently joined the gallery, had sold, and that the gallery’s strong showing of Chinese painters – including Mao Yan, Wang Guangle and Zhang Xiaogang – was popular.

But this moment belongs to Modigliani, the subject of the Restrini Institute Catalog Raisonné, 30 years in the making, and the focus of a 2027 exhibition jointly organized by Pace and Restrini. grimcher told art news He hoped that the Restrini Complete Works would eventually replace the book produced by Cerrone, but he refused to consider it a true catalog raisonné. If Modigliani fans aren’t already excited, Pace will be bringing a work from Restrini’s catalog to every upcoming art fair, and potential buyers are reportedly bidding the equivalent of $13.3 million for the portrait at auction in Hong Kong—we’d bet it will be the most expensive work at the fair.

More highlights in this general price range include a large acrylic painting by Tracey Emin take me to heaven (2024) at White Cube for approximately $1.6 million; a 2006 painting by Liu Ye at David Zwirner for $3.8 million; and Martha Jungwirth.”onetittel (2021), Thaddaeus Ropac, priced at approximately $532,000. (Liu’s painting was sold, as was the Jungwirth painting, which was sold to a Chinese institution.)

Works at entry-level prices also got their due: Busan’s Johyun Gallery reported the sale of 37 works ranging in price from $9,000 to $180,000, including works by Park Seo-Bo, Kim Taek Sang and Lee Bae.

Zero 10 was a digital debut in Asia and was well received by curators and collectors, with buyer interest generally extending beyond traditional paintings and sculptures. In this area, Asprey Studio sold works by Qu Leilei ($45,000) and Tim Yip ($35,000). Lauren Tsai, who has more followers on Instagram than the gallery, is working with Perrotin for the first time through a sculpture and video installation: a puppet with a head asleep without a body, accompanied by a flickering television. The entire installation is still on hold and two of the pieces have been sold. In the same booth, installation works by Steph Huang graftingPenetrating into the realm of encounters, it has been designated by influential (but unnamed) institutions in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Coming from San Francisco, Jessica Silverman Place Atsushi Kaga’s Tribute to Jakuchong – Group 7 (2025) in collaboration with US institutions. Also on display at the booth are a series of new works by Judy Chicago: pearlescent panels reminiscent of “greenhouses” (works by Anaïs Nin), one of which has a pre-sale price of $165,000.

Silverman said that despite Chicago’s reputation in the United States, it has little market share in Asia. “Collectors haven’t had the chance to buy her art yet,” she explained, noting that Chicago rarely appears at Asian fairs except for this edition of Art Basel. Sales typically occur through direct gallery or auction house channels.

In contrast, nearly four hours after the preview, upstairs remains relatively calm. Silverman attributes this to the layout of the fair: blue-chip galleries are concentrated in Hall 1, and crowds naturally flock there first.

Richard Nagy, whose eponymous gallery had no sales by 7 p.m., attributed his show to differences in taste rather than geography. “Well, there are almost no galleries showing pre-war art this year except for us,” he said after noting Acquavilla’s absence earlier. “Last year this area was all secondary market,” he added, pointing to the long row occupied by the Asia Art Center.

“I guess the balance between cost and return at Art Basel is not good enough,” he said. He further explained that his gallery has a higher price point ($200,000 to $4 million) than most, with the monumental work of Paul Delvaux at the top of the list. Nude with statue of Marcus Aurelius.

“People don’t have confidence in how pricing is determined, so they may come and ask and then leave – Log in art network On the contrary,” he concluded.

Elsewhere at the conference, Charmaine Chan, director of Hong Kong’s Lam Pearl, struck a more cautious note. She reported several five-figure sales just before 5 p.m., but she found that the typical “decisive” buying behavior of local collectors was noticeably missing.

“Obviously, sales are slower than usual,” she said, a veteran of Art Basel’s Hong Kong branch. “Usually Hong Kong buyers are very decisive. Three years ago, we had Mr. Doodle at our booth and it was sold out on the first day.”

Her view contrasts with that of Pace’s Marc Glimcher, who sees the absence of some big collectors as a more relaxed dynamic. The gallery is “in no rush” to sell, he said.

Chan sees the slowdown as a sign of the unpredictability of Hong Kong’s collecting environment. “We don’t know the solution,” she said. “Overall, our market remains a question mark.”