Christie’s continues to paint a bullish picture of the market by pointing out that millennials accounted for more than 40 per cent of new buyers overall and that 67 per cent of buyers in the high-value evening sale were new participants, suggesting that the market in Asia continues to expand.

The highlight of the November 28 evening sale of 20th- and 21st-century art was Sanyu’s Nude on Tapestry (1929), which appeared for the first time in auction after remaining in private hands for nearly a century. The hammer price at HK$160 million was above the presale expectation of HK$150 million and the total price was HK$187.3 million, including fees.

The sale saw a healthy sell-through rate, with 46 out of 53 lots sold.

Bidding for works by two of Asia’s most-coveted living artists, Yayoi Kusama and Yoshitomo Nara, was mixed.

Kusama’s A Flower (2014) and Pumpkin [FBAN] (2013) were hammered at HK$65 million and HK$38 million respectively, both within presale expectations. The former became the artist’s second most expensive painting sold at auction.

However, fellow Japanese artist Nara’s Bad Barber (2000) was sold for a hammer price of HK$42 million, or HK$51.2 million with fees – less than the low estimate of HK$55 million.

There was more excitement over the works by a number of Southeast Asian artists.

After a long bidding war, Cheng Soo-pieng’s Nature’s Inspiration (1963) achieved a hammer price of HK$9.2 million, or HK$11.5 million with fees, a record for the Singaporean artist.

Thai artists Pratuang Emjaroen and Thawan Duchanee, whose works are rarely seen in Hong Kong auctions, also set records. The former’s The Symphony of the Universe (1971) and the latter’s Scream of Sorrowful (1968) both sold for HK$6 million each, including fees.

The mood was less jubilant at the “King of Mandopop” sale held in collaboration with the Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou, also on November 28.

An avid art collector, Chou had collaborated with Sotheby’s Hong Kong for a special contemporary art sale in 2021, which was then a hot topic. This time, however, the superstar’s effect might be wearing off as the hammer total was below expectations.

Among 28 lots offered, 25 were sold with a total hammer price of HK$95.2 million, 10 per cent below the lowest presale estimate. The priciest lot was Romanian artist Adrian Ghenie’s Lidless Eye (2016), sold for HK$35 million before fees, below its presale low estimate of HK$38 million.

Bids were relatively subdued for the biggest diamond on sale this season – a 15.48-carat pink diamond. It sold at the lowest end of estimates, realising a price of HK$83.9 million including fees.

On November 30, 15 lots were offered and 13 were sold, to realise a sale total of HK$260.4 million. The top three masterpieces surpassed expectations and sold for nearly three times their low estimates.

Leading the sale was a Yuan-dynasty blue and white meiping vase and cover. After fierce competition from bidders, it was hammered at HK$56 million and fetched HK$67.7 million with fees.

A Qing dynasty pair of blue-ground gilt-decorated “melon and wine” double gourd-form vases fetched HK$40.3 million, while a Ming-dynasty blue-and-white charger (a large dish) decorated with grape motifs sold for HK$26.9 million.

Elsewhere, Phillips’ inaugural “New Now & Design” auction on November 26 made a total of HK$18.9 million. Stand-out lots were Liu Ye’s Hey! (2000) and Huang Yuxing’s Sunrise, which fetched HK$3.5 million and HK$1.6 million, respectively.

Bonham’s December 2 sale of ink paintings by the 20th-century Chinese master Pu Ru fetched a total of HK$8.4 million, with a group of 12 paintings titled Poetic Landscape, valued at HK$600,000-HK$1 million, selling for a final price of HK$5 million.