Asian collectors hurled their millions at heritage artworks, with Chinese Ceramics drawing the lion’s share. Chinese works alone contributed $76.75 million. When Christie’s Asian Art Week in New York was over, fully $117 million had changed hands. It was Christie’s highest total ever for a series of Chinese art sales and almost $40 million more than the previous record.
It wasn’t just Chinese art that set records. At Christie’s Indian and Southeast Asian Art sale, a gray shist “Fasting Buddha from the 3rd/4th century sold for $4.45 million. And at their Japanese and Korean Art sale, a pair of six-panel screens attributed to Kano Naizen (1570-1616) snared $4.79 million, a world record for Japanese Painting. Another world auction record was the $4 million paid for a 12th century Gilt-Bronze Figure of Acuoye Guanyain of the Dali Kingdom. Its estimate had been just $500,000-$800,000.
Read more at Christie’s.
