The Painting That Set Matthew Wong's Auction Record (Twice)

Matthew Wong's River at Dusk (2018) sold for $6.66m (HKD52.3m) at Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 5, 2023. The oil on canvas work, which had a guarantee, had been traded twice in the past. In 2020, the painting had sold for $4.87m, also at Sotheby's Hong Kong, and also record for the late artist.

Matthew Wong painted River at Dusk a year before his untimely death in 2019, aged 35. The artist, who was on the autism spectrum and had Tourette’s syndrome, had grappled with depression since childhood. He only began to teach himself to paint in 2013, having studied cultural anthropology and then photography.

Born in Toronto, he grew up between Canada and Hong Kong. He had his first, small solo show in 2015 at the Hong Kong Visual Arts Center. In 2018, his New York debut at Karma featuring colorful, dreamlike landscapes that combined influences of Western Modern art and traditional Chinese art, made him a market darling almost overnight.

The sale beat Wong’s previous auction record by $765,000, a 12% rise. His previous record was set by The Night Watcher (2018), which sold for $5.9m at Sotheby's on May 19, 2022. The work had been traded once in the past.

A Brief History of Matthew Wong at Auction