Sotheby’s Will Hold Its Closely Watched Spring Hong Kong Art Auctions in New York as the Coronavirus Epidemic Rages On

In response to the increasingly
threatening coronavirus epidemic, Sotheby’s announced today that it
will move its major spring Hong Kong auctions to New
York.

The auction house’s Modern art
evening sale and its contemporary art evening and day sales,
originally set to take place between April 3 and 8 during Hong Kong
art week, will be relocated to Sotheby’s New York on April 16. The
remaining events in the series, including sales of jewelry,
watches, wine, and Asian art, will be postponed to the week of July
6 in Hong Kong.

The
decision was made
“after careful consideration and reflection on nearly 50 years of
working with our clients in Asia,” said Kevin Ching, CEO of
Sotheby’s Asia, in a statement.

“April in New York represents
the best possible venue and timing for our consignors of Modern and
contemporary art,” he added. “We have scheduled these sales at
times that will make it easy for our clients in Asia to participate
and our global team stands ready to activate the international
market for the great works of art we have assembled.”

David Hockney’s
30 Sunflowers
(1996), a large square canvas
estimated at roughly $10 million, tops the list of highlights for
the company’s contemporary evening sale. Meanwhile, a 1950 painting
by Chinese-French artist Sanyu, which depicts four nude female
figures, leads the modern art evening sale. A similar work by the
artist, who is known as the “Chinese Matisse,” sold for $38.8
million at Christie’s Hong Kong modern art evening auction last
November. 

With today’s announcement,
Sotheby’s sales join a growing list of global art events in Hong
Kong to be postponed, relocated, or altogether canceled as alarming
coronavirus news continues to spread. After rampant speculation,
Art Basel Hong Kong canceled its March
2020 edition. A day
later, Art Central, a fair that typically runs concurrent to Art
Basel Hong Kong, also canceled this year’s
edition. 

Christie’s announced the
postponement of its 20th
century and contemporary art evening sale in Hong Kong from March
to May. Bonhams similarly announced that its March sales in Hong
Kong would be rescheduled, though new dates have not yet been set.
The majority of sales set for New York’s Asian Art Week, including
those planned by Christie’s, Phillips, and Bonhams, have all been
moved to June.

Countries around the world are
imposing strict travel restrictions to stop the deadly virus, which
now has 70,000 confirmed cases in mainland China and another 8,000
throughout Asia and Europe. Flights to and from China have been
drastically limited, rendering the kind of logistics needed to
operate a fair or auction all but impossible. 

The post Sotheby’s Will Hold Its Closely Watched Spring Hong
Kong Art Auctions in New York as the Coronavirus Epidemic Rages
On appeared first on artnet News.