Wu Hufan Leads Sotheby's $13.5m 'Fine Chinese Paintings' Auction in Hong Kong

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Wu Hufan Leads Sotheby's $13.5m 'Fine Chinese Paintings' Auction in Hong Kong

3 min read  ·  24 Oct 2024

Autumn Mountains Amidst Clouds by Wu Hufan sold for $1.85m.
Image courtesy of Sotheby's

Autumn Mountains Amidst Clouds by Wu Hufan sold for $1.85m. Image courtesy of Sotheby's

A work by Wu Hufan was the headline sale at Sotheby's 'Fine Chinese Paintings' auction on October 23 in Hong Kong.

  • The sale totaled $13.5m (HKD104.9m), meeting the pre-sale estimate.

Snapshot of the sale

  • 133 works sold totaling $13.5m.
  • Estimates totaled: $9.25m (low) and $17.7m (high), excluding premiums.
  • The sell-through rate was 94% of the original 141 lots announced.

The star lot was: Wu Hufan, Autumn Mountains Amidst Clouds (1948), which sold for $1.85m, 19% above its $1.55m low estimate.

The outperformer sold for 699% above its low estimate. Zhang Daqian, Pavilions by Willow Trees (Undated), sold for $61,800 ($7,726 low estimate).

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

Breakdown of results against auction house estimates that are disclosed

  • 57 works, or 43%, sold above their high estimate.
  • 76 works, or 57%, sold within their low and high estimate.
  • 0 works, or 0%, sold below their low estimate.
  • 0 sold with undisclosed estimates.

Guaranteed sales

No sales had a guarantee.

Works that did not sell

8 works were bought-in, including: Zhang Daqian, Hiking on the Double Ninth Festival (1961), estimated at $1.29m (low) to $1.93m (high).

Withdrawn before the sale

0 works were withdrawn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Withdrawn: This happens when a seller decides, for whatever reason, to withdraw a work before the bidding begins.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