First lot: Auction house Phillips to hold inaugural sale in Hong Kong as part of Asian expansion plan

A 200-year-old international auction house is making big plans for Asia, starting with an inaugural sale in Hong Kong on December 1, as it eyes potential growth of the market in the region.

Edward Dolman, chairman and chief executive officer of Phillips, told the results of recent art sales in Hong Kong had been "encouraging" despite China's stock market crash, but the London and New York-based auction house was looking at a longer-term plan for the city.

"The market is stronger than expected," Dolman said. "But looking at one sales season is only short-term … we are not looking at two to three years, but 20 to 30 years. We have very significant plans in Hong Kong and Asia."

Dolman said art collecting in Asia had been growing tremendously, with increasing participation of "high-level" Asian buyers - spending US$300,000 upwards - at the auction house's sales in London and New York.

"There is an increasing appetite by collectors from the region buying international contemporary art," he said.

This week, Phillips has brought , a 1932 painting by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier offered by the Heidi Weber Museum Collection, to show a handful of invited Asian clients at its Hong Kong office.

This could not have happened five to 10 years ago, as buyers were only acquiring contemporary artworks produced by artists from the region, said Dolman.