Art Basel Hong Kong 2018

Art Fair Report: Art Basel Hong Kong 2018

This year's edition of Art Basel Hong Kong had the whole Art World gathered together in Hong Kong for a week of openings, dinners, talks, exhibitions and of course ... fair frenzy. The atmosphere was euphoric, resulting in a rollercoaster of sales reported not only at the fair, but also in the galleries which cleverly had organized shows by their major artists to coincide with the fair.

And the crowds couldn't get enough of all the Condos, Bradfords, Kaws and Guidis sparkling in the galleries: sold out shows for Mark Bradford at Hauser & Wirth, George Condo at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum organized by Skarstedt and Sprüth Magers, Condo & Picasso at Sotheby's "Face Off" Selling Show curated by Jasmine Chen, and Jennifer Guidi at Gagosian (we will publish a separate report about this analysing the markets of these artists in the next days).

Let's take a look now what dealers brought to the fair and what sold at which prices:

We already announced it earlier: Lévy Gorvy made the most celebrated and talked-about sale of the week when they sold Willem de Kooning's 'Untitled XII', 1975 from the collection of Microsoft founder Paul Allen for $35million.

It was by far the most expensive work at the fair, as normally the price level for the more pricey works at the blue-chip galleries was between $ 1-5million. The gallery also sold the four Pat Steir paintings in their booth in a price range of $500,000 each.

What else did sell at the fair?

Thaddaeus Ropac sold ''Susanne 3' (2016) and 'Coca Cola Girl 12' (2018) by Alex Katz for $500,000 and $550,000. The gallery also sold a Longo charcoal drawing of a bright red Rose for $650,000, and a Baselitz canvas for $680,000.

Almine Rech sold a 2006 Condo painting for around $ 1million, while David Zwirner sold Neo Rauch's 'Der Türmer' (2017) for $ 1million, a Sigmar Polke work for $ 3million, two works by Michaël Borremans for $600,000 each, an Oscar Murrillo canvas for $400,000 and a 2017 painting by Lisa Yukavage for $300,000.

Hauser & Wirth sold out their show of Mark Bradford paintings in the news HQueens space. They also sold works by Philip Guston, a Rashid Johnson work for $200,000, and Paul McCarthy's 'White Snow Flower Girl #2' for $600,000.

Pace Gallery sold a 2003 drawing by Yoshitomo Nara for $750,000, a Robert Rauschenberg for $600,000, a 2017 painting by Zhang Xiaogang for $300,000 and a work by Qiu Xiaofei for $160,000.

Tornabuoni sold a painting by Hans Hartung for $600,000 and a Fontana Concetto Spaziale for $2.4million.

Mazzoleni sold a 1951 Giorgio de Chirico oil on canvas for $600,000.

Kukje Gallery sold Lee Ufan's With Wind from 1987 for $ 1.5million and a work by Ha Chong-Hyun for $280,000. Michael Werner sold a large scale A.R. Penck painting from 1981 for $600,000.

Sprüth Magers sold Sterling Ruby's 'Hex' (2017) for $250,000.

At Lisson Gallery, Stanley Whitney paintings sold between $80,000 - 150,000, a Mary Corse painting for $140,000, a Joyce Pensato work for $100,000 and a 2017 Lee Ufan canvas for $250,000.

Lehmann Maupin sold works by Hernan Bas in the range between $150,000 - 200,000, as well as a Mary corse painting for $130,000.

At David Kordansky Gallery, a brand-new Jennifer Guidi diptych sold for $140,000. The gallery also sold a Rashid Johnson work for $150,000.