Christie's Fine Chinese Modern and Contemporary Ink Paintings Auction Totals $15.72m
3 min read · 29 Oct 2026
Sailing in River Li by Li Keran sold for $1.63m. Image courtesy of Christie's
A work by Li Keran was the headline sale at Christie's 'Fine Chinese Modern and Contemporary Ink Paintings' auction on October 28 in Hong Kong.
- The sale totaled $15.72m (HKD123.3m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.
Snapshot of the sale
- 144 works sold totaling $15.72m.
- Estimates totaled: $10.56m (low) and $16.97m (high), excluding premiums.
- The sell-through rate was 83% of the original 174 lots announced.
The star lot was: Li Keran, Sailing in River Li (1972), which sold for $1.63m, 96% above its $828,400 low estimate. It has not been traded before.
Calligraphy of Buddhist Text by Hongyi sold for $155,000 (1420% above estimate). Image courtesy of Christie's
The outperformer sold for 1420% above its low estimate. Hongyi, Calligraphy of Buddhist Text (1940), sold for $155,000 ($10,200 low estimate).
- 80 works, or 56%, sold above their high estimate.
- 54 works, or 38%, sold within their low and high estimate.
- 10 works, or 7%, sold below their low estimate.
- 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.
Guaranteed sales
No sales had a guarantee.
Works that did not sell
30 works were bought-in, including: Zhang Daqian, Longevity Cypress (1961), estimated at $700,900 (low) to $1.08m (high). It has been traded once in the past.
Withdrawn before the sale
0 works were withdrawn
Terms and definitions
All results include the fees and premiums added to the price of a work of art when the auctioneer's hammer falls. Estimates, sale prices and totals are converted into US dollars. Sale prices are compared to the auction house’s low estimate, which do not include premiums.
Guarantees: Sometimes an auction house guarantees to pay a seller for a work, regardless of whether the bidding reaches the reserve price, a figure that is typically confidential.
Bought-in: If there are no bids for a work, or if bidding falls short of the reserve price, the lot is unsold or “bought-in”.
Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.
Premiums: Typically a sliding-scale of charges paid in addition to the hammer price by the buyer, plus any other fees.
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