Christie’s Hong Kong Sales Hint at Market Bounce Back

Christie’s sales in Hong Kong delivered the auction house's best results in three years. Optimists will hope it is a sign that the market, at least in Asia, could be on the road to recovery.

The three sales led by a $25m Picasso portrait of Dora Maar and a $2.7m Kusama red pumpkin on September 26-27 were the auction house’s strongest performance since the post-pandemic bounce of 2021 and the downturn that soon followed.

Auction grades

This September’s sales scored a B- on the HENI Auction Index, a unique algorithm that benchmarks auction performance based on 10+ metrics, continuing a positive trend first seen in Christie’s March sales in Hong Kong, which earned a C.

Total sales and sell-through rate are standard auction benchmarks, but a broader range of metrics gives a clearer view of performance over time.

The fall sales achieved their high grade because there were significantly fewer weak guarantees and irrevocable bids compared to Christie’s most recent sales in Hong Kong.

Also, the sales saw an increase in the percentage of works selling above the low estimate: 15 percentage points above the average of comparable sales.

Moreover, only 4% of lots were bought-in, 7 percentage points below the 11% average in comparable sales.

The number of new artist auction records dipped slightly, however. That said, Hong Kong artist and LABUBU designer Kasing Lung's record soared by 78% when his Pop art acrylic Part 1 (2022) sold for $179,500 (HKD1.4m).

Total sales in real $ and number of lots

Lots selling above low/high estimates

Guarantees and irrevocable bids

Comparable sales

Methodology: for how the HENI Auction Index classifies sales, see here