Fu Baoshi Leads Bonhams $6.75m 'Fine Chinese Paintings' Auction in Hong Kong

A work by Fu Baoshi was the headline sale at Bonhams 'Fine Chinese Paintings' auction on June 1 in Hong Kong.

• The sale totaled $6.75m, meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

• 134 works sold totaling $6.75m.
• Estimates totaled: $4.7m (low) and $7.06m (high), excluding premiums.
• The sell-through rate was 83% of the original 161 lots announced.

The star lot was: Fu Baoshi, Landscape after Shitao's Poem (1960), which sold for $731,300, 14% above its $639,400 low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 1800% above its low estimate. Deng Fen, Bamboo Retreat (1937), sold for $122,300 ($6,394 low estimate).

• 79 works, or 59%, sold above their high estimate.
• 53 works, or 40%, sold within their low and high estimate.
• 2 works, or 1%, sold below their low estimate.
• 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

27 works were bought-in, including: Lin Fengmian, Girl and Fish (Undated), estimated at $153,500 (low) to $255,800 (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Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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. 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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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.