As if to underscore the rising wealth of the region, auction records were broken by Asian and international
big spenders who were out in full force last week, battling to outbid each
other for the extravagances displayed by the world’s biggest auction houses in Hong Kong.

Christie’s
saw two world records established at its autumn season, Asian 20^th
century and contemporary art sale, held at the Hong Kong Convention Centre.

La
forêt blanche II by 20^th Century Chinese artist Chu Teh-Chun sold for
$7,784,594 and Abstract Triptych by Singaporean artist Cheong Soo-Pieng
sold for $547,334.

The
UK auctioneer’s three sales of the season achieved $87,492,378 in total, and
sold in excess of 81 per cent by lot and 93 per cent by value. Among the 39
lots that were snapped up, 11 sold in excess of $1,297,000, and two thirds of
the total number of lots went for over the high estimate.

“This
season we expanded the quantity and range of art offered at our sales. This led
to increased international and new buyer participation, resulting in a high
sold through rate, as well as a growth in sales,” Eric Chang, international director of Asian 20^th century and
contemporary art at Christie’s, said in a statement.

“In
the spirit of our theme of `East meets West,’ we witnessed truly cross-cultural
buying, including European buying of Southeast Asian works and Japanese buying
of Vietnamese art. These results are testament to Christie's ambition over more
than ten years to diversify our buyer base by bringing the markets in Asia and the West closer together and promoting globally
the appeal of Asian Twentieth Century and Contemporary Art,” Chang added.

Just
around the corner from the HK Convention Centre, Poly Auction, the world's fourth-largest auction house
after Christie's, Sotheby's and China Guardian, according to Art Market
Trends 2011 by Artprice, held its sales at the Grand
Hyatt hotel Hong Kong,

The auctioneer sold its top item, ink painting "Two Tibetan Ladies
With Dogs," by 20th-century master Zhang Daqian, to an Asian collector for
$5.42 million - over four times the high pre-sale estimate.

Meanwhile, at its “Eight
Exceptional Jewels from a Private Collection” sale, another auction giant,
Bonhams, set a world record for a 43 carat sapphire and diamond ring by Van
Cleef and Arpels, selling for over $1.55million.

Bonham’s also made headlines for hosting the first Leica vintage
camera sale in Hong Kong, breaking an auction
world record for a rare Leica Luxus 1, which sold for close to $1 million.

Jon Baddley, head of
collectables at Bonhams, said after the sale that the results more than justify
the group’s  belief in the idea of
bringing these unique cameras to China, which according to Baddley, has a
rapidly emerging market for these rare items. “We took a bit of a gamble but it
has paid off handsomely. Already we can see that this market is outstripping New York and London,"
Baddley said in a statement.