Young Artists Stand Out at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring Sales

Works by postwar Japanese artists also garnered robust results. Yoshitomo Nara’s angry looking green-eyed Frog Girl (1998) fetched HKD 96 million (USD 12.4 million), above a HKD 80 million (USD 10.3 million) high estimate. The painting was last sold for USD 482,500 at Christie’s New York in May 2010. Two other paintings of girls, namely Ten Stars (2014) and Life is Only One! (2008), achieved HKD 36 million (USD 4.6 million) and HKD 19.5 million (USD 2.5 million), respectively, with the former exceeding its high estimate of HKD 28 million (USD 3.6 million). The artist has enjoyed much success recently, with his current USD 24.9 million auction record set in October 2019 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong with Knife Behind Back (2000). Another favorite, Yayoi Kusama’s painting-sculpture I Carry on Living with the Pumpkins (2013) sold at HKD 15.9 million (USD 2 million), more than doubling its high estimate.  

• Hong Kong