A $9 million Willem de Kooning painting leads early sales at Art Basel Hong Kong.
Installation view of Hauser & Wirth’s booth at Art Basel Hong Kong, 2024. Photo by JJYPHOTO. Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth.
A $9 million Willem de Kooning painting is among the top sales reported from Art Basel Hong Kong’s first day. The painting was sold by Hauser & Wirth, which also sold Philip Guston’s The Desire (1978) for $8.5 million and Mark Bradford’s May the Lord be the first one in the car...and the last out. (2023) for $3.5 million.
On Tuesday morning, the fair kicked off the first of its two VIP Days at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. This edition marks a return to the fair’s pre-pandemic size, hosting more than 240 galleries, a 37% increase in exhibitors from 2023.
More notable six- and seven-figure sales reported by galleries from opening day at Art Basel Hong Kong 2024 include:
- Thaddaeus Ropac sold Tony Cragg’s Incident Solo (2023) for €725,000 ($785,000) and Martha Jungwirth’s Ohne Titel (2023) for €450,000 ($487,000).
- Lehmann Maupin sold Lee Bul’s Perdu CXCIV (2024) for $190,000. Other top sales from the gallery include Marylin Minter’s Red White and Blue (2022–23) for $175,000 and David Salle’s Tree of Life, Split (2024) for between $120,000 and $130,000.
- David Kordansky Gallery sold a painting by Shara Hughes for between $340,000 and $390,000, a Joel Mesler work for $185,000, a Hilary Pecis painting for $165,000, and a Martha Diamond painting for between $140,000 and $190,000.
Stay tuned for our full sales report on Monday.
