For decades, Chinese art collectors have positioned Hong Kong as a major destination for secondary-market sales. But with China’s growth contracting in the year after its post-pandemic reopening, two major auction series at Sotheby’s and Phillips in Hong Kong in early October produced disappointing results for many bluechip modern and contemporary artworks. Is this a turning point in the market?

Hong Kong

In late August, Sotheby’s Hong Kong announced it would hold the first of several auctions of modern and contemporary artworks collected by the Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei, who in 2012 founded the private Long Museum in Shanghai and later a second branch in Shanghai and a satellite space in Chongqing. While maintaining that the works destined for sales come from their personal collection, Liu and Wang consigned a portion to Sotheby’s Hong Kong for the house’s auction week, (October 2–9), marking its 50th anniversary in Asia.