Picasso broke the Asian auction record: “Buste de femme” sold for $25.4 million in Hong Kong

The Christie’s auction house closed its Hong Kong 20th/21st Century autumn auction series with a total of 106 million U.S. dollars, as ArtDependence reports. The top lot was Pablo Picasso’s “Buste de femme”, sold for $25,404,911.

The sale broke the artist’s Asian auction record — it is the most expensive work by Picasso ever sold in Asia, and the sixth most valuable 20th/21st Century work sold in the world this year.

Sales were successful across all price categories: 96% of the lots were sold and the prices achieved were 121% above the low estimate. The day sales reached 97% sold. Collectors from 32 countries on 5 continents took part; 20% of the buyers were new, more than half of them millennials.

Cristian Albu, deputy chairman and head of 20th/21st Century art at Christie’s Asia Pacific, said the results reflect Christie’s leadership in the selection and valuation of art in Asia — “from the sensational sale of the Picasso, now the artist’s most expensive work ever sold in Asia, to the demand for the modern Chinese selection, which sold in full, led by the beautiful Zao Wou-Ki”.

The result comes just a few days after Sotheby’s record evening in Hong Kong ($96 million), confirming a disciplined and competitive market in East Asia in the autumn auction season.