Week in Review: Basquait Guaranteed Success in Hong Kong, London Gets a Kusama Pumpkin and Lee Ufan Goes Dutch

This week the spotlight shone on Hong Kong where its spring auctions took place, with eye-catching (and guaranteed) sales of works by market darlings, including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Yayoi Kusama, whose Pumpkin is heading to London. But the fireworks were made by market-shy Japanese artist Teppei Takeda. His semi-abstract portrait sold for 800% above estimate, a spectacular auction debut. There was a cloud over London ahead of its Gallery Weekend when Sotheby’s announced deep staff cuts.

1

Hong Kong: A Jean-Michel Basquiat, painting, which backed by a guarantee, sold for $12.63m, leading Phillips $27M sale. HENI News

2

Hong Kong: Teppei Takeda’s work sold for $235,500, more than nine times the low estimate at Phillips, a spectacular auction debut for the low-profile Japanese artist. HENI News

3

Hong Kong: Andy Warhol’s Flowers (1965), which was backed by a guarantee and sold for $8.53m, was the headline sale at Christie’s. HENI News

4

London: A Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin will grace Kensington Gardens this summer presented by the Serpentine Galleries and Royal Parks.

5

Shows: Anne Imhof is taking over all four floors of the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria in a major exhibition.

6

Profile: Fritz Scholder, who is best known for his subversion of Native American stereotypes, has seen a 123% increase in his HENI Score as his works outperform at auction. HENI News

7

Zurich/London: Kiki Kogelnik, the late Austrian Pop artist, is no longer under the radar with a show opening at Pace in London coinciding with a survey show in Switzerland.

And in other news

New York: An unauthorized exhibition called the Banksy Museum has opened in Manhattan.

London: Sotheby’s plans to lay off 50 people in the UK with further job losses expected in New York and the auction house’s European locations.