Auction houses in China are pushing further into the Modern and Impressionist Markets, the South China Morning Post reports, part of an attempt at beating a sales slump that has plagued the market in recent months.  “Selling Impressionist and modern art will be great business for us, as the artworks are traditionally very highly priced,” says Hu Yanyan, president of China Guardian Auctions and China Guardian (HK) Auctions. (more…)

Daniel Arsham at Galerie Perrotin, via Art Basel

Following a hectic weekend of events and openings, today caps the final day of Art Basel Hong Kong, bringing strong sales and attendance at the sixth edition of the massive Asian market event. (more…)

Aaron Curry, Vertical Wood Sculpture (2013), via Almine Rech

Just one week after The Armory Show closed its doors in New York, the sixth edition of Art Basel Hong Kong is preparing to open halfway around the world, with many familiar names vying to court collectors from Asia, Oceania and abroad.  The fair, which shuffled its calendar this year in response to the Venice Biennale opening in early May, is presenting something of a scaled-back experience this year, running just three days from Sunday to Tuesday, but should nevertheless prove successful as one of Asia’s largest art fairs. (more…)

Malaysian curator and art adviser Adeline Ooi has been named Art Basel’s new Director for Asia, the New York Times reports, replacing former Director Magnus Renfrew.  ‘‘We wanted someone who we thought could catalyze the growth of the art market across Asia,’’ says Marc Spiegler, the director of Art Basel. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal profiles the work of Xin Li, the former professional basketball player and model who has become Christie’s top resource in courting billionaire Asian collectors as its Deputy Chairman for the continent.  “I used to get up at 5 a.m. to go to play basketball in minus-30-degree weather,” Ms. Xin says during the interview. “I learned how to focus.” (more…)

Al-Jazeera continues the investigation into the Philippine government’s attempts at reclaiming the trove of works previously owned by the Marcos family, some of which they believe have since been stolen from the family’s homes and are now in private collections.  “We’d like to think that these paintings have been with the Marcoses from the beginning, and we believe that they were purchased using ill-gotten wealth and public funds,” Presidential Commission on Good Government leader Andres Bautista says. (more…)

The Philippine government has seized 15 paintings, including works Monet and Van Gogh, from the former home of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, part of an official effort to secure a body of artworks from the politician’s accumulated wealth.  “The position of the government is this is part of ill-gotten wealth and should be returned to the government and the people,” says Andres Bautista, chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government. (more…)

An article in the Wall Street Journal takes a closer look at how auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s vigorously recruit new collectors. Seeking fortunes large enough to sustain multi-million dollar sales, these auction houses keep a close eye on a new crop of billionaires that has been springing up over the past few years in areas like the Balkans and Central Asia. The courting ritual employed by the houses includes children’s parties, personalized tours, VIP passes, and, in one case, a hand-crafted needle-point pillow. (more…)

Art Basel Hong Kong Director Magnus Renfrew is reportedly leaving his post with the growing art fair to join Bonhams Auction House in the role of deputy chairman, Asia and director of fine arts, Asia.  “Renfrew will be responsible for defining the strategy for Bonhams in Asia relating to the fine arts and will oversee the established departments of classical, Modern and contemporary art in Asia,” Bonhams stated in a press release. (more…)

The Guggenheim’s currently under construction space in Abu Dhabi is hosting a preview exhibition of its collection, showing 16 works in the exhibition  “Seeing Through Light: Selections From the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Collection” at Manarat later this year.  “It is small in nature because the space, a temporary exhibition gallery used to foster audience engagement for the three museums, is only about 15,000 square feet,” says Curator Susan Davidson. (more…)

Qingtai Hu at Shanghai, All Images © MCH Messe Schweiz (Basel) AG

After a hectic week, the Art Basel Hong Kong event is winding down, leaving behind it a record of strong sales and high-profile attendees, continuing the fair’s prominent footprint in Hong Kong’s ever-strengthening draw for collectors and artists.  Pi Li and Doryun Chong of the M+ Museum could be seen browsing the works, as well as Uli Sigg, Takashi Murakami and Carsten Nicolai, who had just opened his astounding installation at the International Commerce Center. (more…)

Responding to a number of articles and analyses of the Chinese contemporary art market, Forbes has published a list of myths about the nation’s ever-burgeoning sales of contemporary art.  Noting a number of overly negative, pessimistic claims over forgeries, lack of collectors and a dearth of interest in international artists, the list sets straight a number of commonly held beliefs about contemporary art in China today. (more…)

Chinese-Indonesian collector Budi Tek is preparing to open his newly established Yuz Museum in Shanghai, showcasing a broad selection of contemporary Asian works from his collection.  “I don’t have any say, it is done by the curator, who will select from the whole of the collection,” Tek says. “We are very careful to collect and exhibit the best works considered historical to Chinese contemporary art.”  Tek says. (more…)

The much-beloved, floating Yellow Duck Sculpture by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman has burst again in the harbor of Taiwan’s northern port city of Keelung.  This is the second time the duck has burst in Taiwan, and may have been ruptured by eagles, which were reportedly attacking the sculpture.  “We want to apologize to the fans of the yellow rubber duck….the weather is fine today and we haven’t found the cause of the problem. We will carefully examine the duck to determine the cause,” organizer Huang Jing-tai told reporters. (more…)

Mark Tansey, The Raw and the Framed (1995), via Christie’s

The last major auction of Frieze Week in London concluded this evening at Christie’s, a strong sale that saw nearly all of the 55 lots on sale finding a buyer, bringing the total sales for the evening up to £27,788,900, placing the auction house as the clear leader in a week of busy auctions and impressive sales figures.

Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Nets (T.W.A.) (2000), via Christie’s (more…)

An auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong location has set a new record for the highest selling Asian contemporary artwork, after painter Zeng Fanzhi’s The Last Supper achieved a $23.3 million final price, more than doubling its estimate.  It sold as part of an evening contemporary art auction that achieved an impressive total of $145 million in sales. (more…)

Sotheby’s has posted its earnings for the first half of 2013, with profits up to $91.7 million, over last year’s $85.4 million in the same period.  Revenues also saw a 0.3% increase, likely from the increased commissions that the auction house announced earlier this year.  In addition, the auction house noted that the global bidding activity of Asian collectors at Sotheby’s in the first half of 2013 has exceeded the total for all of 2012, an impressive feat that once again trumpets the importance of the Asian market. (more…)

The ongoing growth of the Asian art market has brought a new focus on local identities and markets within the region, The Guardian reports, leading to a new market segment increasingly interested in predominantly Asian artists and works.  “What’s happening in London or New York remains important of course, but so is what’s happening in Mumbai, Jogjakarta or Tokyo,” says Philip Tinari, director of the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing. (more…)

The New York Times reports on the growing contemporary arts scene in Bangkok, Thailand, increasingly bolstered by expats and foreigners.  Referred to as “farangs” in Thai, many have opened galleries, nonprofits and other organizations promoting the city’s artists and institutions.  “Farangs play a very important role in the image of what goes on here,” says curator Pier Luigi Tazzi.  “They are still connected to their own countries so these links are still very attractive in terms of communication.” (more…)

The late Chinese artist Zhang Daiqian saw impressive auction results this week during both Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions of contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong.  Daiqian’s Lotus work, consisting of four painted scrolls more than five feet high, sold for five times its estimate at $10.4 million during Christie’s auction yesterday.  In addition, an auction dedicated solely to works by Daiqian reached $42 Million in sales at Sotheby’s on Monday.  Zhang currently stands as one of the top-selling artists at auction worldwide. (more…)

Hong Kong Convention Center, site of the Art Basel Hong Kong Art Fair, via Forbes

With the closing of the doors at the Hong Kong Convention Center this past Sunday, the first edition of Art Basel Hong Kong was brought to a conclusion after a flourish of strong sales, critical praise, and notable attention for the art fair giant’s first foray into the Asian continent.

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A giant, inflatable rubber duck sculpture by artist Florentijn Hofman has been installed in the port of Hong Kong, bringing residents out in droves to see it floating in the harbor.  While the duck has traveled to a number of cities around the world, the fervent response to its arrival in Hong Kong has bordered on cultural phenomenon, with restaurants making special rubber-duck themed foods and politicians praising the sculpture for the “limitless amounts of joy” it has brought to the city. (more…)