In a rare foray South Sotheby's spring auction series swung through Singapore to show a selection of works that included a stunning Andy Warhol work that will surely break through its reserve price.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale will be held on 2 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Unfortunately Singapore's goods and services sales tax of 7 percent makes Hong Kong, with no sales tax, the choice for most of the global auction houses to host their key Asian sales.
Of course being next door to the enormous and growing wealth of China doesn't do any harm either. At next month's sale there will be strong interest from around Asia and beyond, in one significant piece.
Magnificent Mao
The auction will present, for the first time, significant Western Contemporary works by internationally-renowned artists such as Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst and Adrian Ghenie. The evening auction will offer over 50 lots and is estimated to raise in excess of 460 million Hong Kong dollars.
Bound to be the biggest draw on the night will be the «magnificent Mao» which has an estimate of 90 million to 120 million Hong Kong dollars. The Mao series marked a significant stylistic turning point for Warhol in the 1970's. He created the work in 1972 – a crucial moment of global politics when President Richard Nixon visited China and Chairman Mao.
The painting in red and gold carries the highly expressionistic and flamboyant handling of paint as well as the artist’s resolution and confidence, transforming Mao to become, at that time, the newest player on the fashion circuit and a glamourised member of the 1970s pop idols.
