(Reuters) - A triptych oil painting by Chinese artist Zhang Xiaogang sold for $10.1 million in Hong Kong on Sunday, which Sotheby's said was a record auction price for a contemporary artwork from China.
In a $54.8 million sale of contemporary Chinese art from the collection of Belgian collector Baron Guy Ullens, a packed auction room bid ferociously for 106 works acquired over decades by the now retired tycoon.
The star lot was Zhang's early 1988 work "Forever Lasting Love" of half naked figures in an arid landscape suffused with mystical symbols. This fetched HK$79 million, more than double its pre-sale high estimate of HK$30 million.
The price was higher than the $9.5 million paid for a Zeng Fanzhi canvas in 2008 and a series of massive gunpowder works by Cai Guoqiang that fetched a similar price in 2007.
Sunday's auction tripled the pre-sale estimate and all works were sold. "This represents the entire spectrum of contemporary Chinese art," said Kevin Ching, chief executive of Sotheby's Asia. "I think everyone would be proud to be able to own a piece of that history, that process and a part of that vision."
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Moreover:
Record for Wang Guanyi Mao at 2.120.000 usd excluded bp.
Almost record for Zhou Chunya at 707.000 usd excluded bp
