Van Gogh painting auctioned for US$27.6 million, below estimates, at Christie’s Hong Kong

US$27.6 million for early Van Gogh work a good price, observer says as Christie’s talks up results of auction where most bidding was low

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Auction staff hold up painting Les canots amarrés by Vincent Van Gogh, which sold at auction at Christie’s Hong Kong headquarters for HK$215 million (US$27.6 million) on September 26, 2024. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:10pm, 26 Sep 2024Updated: 6:28am, 27 Sep 2024

There were few fireworks at the inaugural evening sale of 20th and 21st century art at Christie’s new Asia headquarters in Hong Kong on September 26, as the economic malaise that has cast a pall over the art market in the past two years continues to make itself felt.

The closely watched sale, led by auctioneers Adrien Meyer and Georgina Hilton, began at 7pm on the 7th floor of The Henderson, the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed tower in the city’s Central business district.

The auction house controlled by French billionaire François Pinault has taken up the four lowest floors of the curvilinear glass tower.

The high-profile expansion will see Christie’s holding year-round auctions in its own venue instead of being limited to two weeks of marquee sales each spring and autumn at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.

Cristian Albu, deputy chairman and head of 20th/21st century art at Christie’s Asia-Pacific, poses with Vincent van Gogh’s Les canots amarrés (1887) ahead of its sale. Photo: Christie’s

The top lot was Les canots amarrés (1887) by Vincent van Gogh, a painting owned by Princess Camilla of Bourbon Two Sicilies and which was heavily promoted as a rare work by the artist to be sold in Asia.