Demand for Singapore’s Nanyang artists heats up, Liu Kang sets personal auction record of $698,500
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Pioneer artist Liu Kang's Pounding Rice (1953) set a new personal auction record with a $698,500 sale on July 2.
PHOTO: SOTHEBY'S
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SINGAPORE – Collectors’ demand for paintings by Singapore’s pioneer Nanyang artists continues to heat up at auction, with works by Liu Kang (1911-2004), Georgette Chen (1906-1993) and Cheong Soo Pieng (1917-1983) selling above their pre-sale estimates last weekend.
Liu, known for his Balinese figurative paintings, set a new personal auction record with the sale of Pounding Rice (1953) for $698,500 at Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Art auction at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre on Sunday.
The 125.5cm by 202.4cm work, the largest work by Liu to appear at auction, sold above its high estimate of $500,000.
The figure beats his previous record of US$401,287 (S$542,441) for Adjusting The Waistband (1997), which was set at auction house Christie’s in May 2022.
Depicting a group of Balinese women pounding rice in large stone mortars, Pounding Rice was executed a year after a landmark group excursion to Bali in 1952, which marked the beginning of the Nanyang style of art.
Chen’s Lychees And Peaches (1940 to 1945) – the top lot of the auction – sold to an in-room bidder for $2.02 million, surpassing the estimate in excess of $1.2 million.
A key figure of modern art renowned for her rendering of tropical fruit in the still-life genre, Chen holds the record for the most expensive Singapore pioneer artist with a $2.47 million sale
Georgette Chen, who holds the record for the most expensive Singapore pioneer artist, continues to be in high demand with Lychees And Peaches (1940 to 1945) selling for $2.02 million on July 2.
PHOTO: SOTHEBY’S
Fellow pioneer artist Cheong’s Seated Balinese Lady (1981) sold for $203,200, nearly two times higher than its pre-sale high estimate of $110,000.
Ms Jasmine Prasetio, managing director, Sotheby’s South-east Asia, says: “The appreciation for Nanyang artists has been growing steadily over the years. As the recognition, knowledge and love for art grow, the collectors’ base for these artists has also expanded.
“In short, it is a matter of time, nurture and opportunity. Sotheby’s role is to bring this recognition by the market into a visible platform, but it takes the entire ecosystem for this to happen.”
Notably, Chen – who has broken her personal auction record thrice in the past year alone – had a major retrospective, Georgette Chen: At Home In The World, at the National Gallery Singapore from November 2020 to September 2021.
Singaporean contemporary artist Jane Lee’s Melt VII (2017) sold at $190,500, above the pre-sale high estimate of $120,000. Lee’s first museum solo exhibition, Lila: Unending Play,
Singaporean contemporary artist Jane Lee’s Melt VII (2017) sold at $190,500, above the pre-sale high estimate of $120,000.
PHOTO: SOTHEBY’S
Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Art auction – its second auction in Singapore after a 15-year hiatus in the city-state – realised a total of $15.1 million in sales with 93 per cent of lots sold. In August 2022,
According to the auction house, this most recent auction received bids from over 15 countries, with two-thirds of bidders hailing from South-east Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Art auction on July 2 realised a total of $15.1 million in sales with 93 per cent of lots sold.
PHOTO: SOTHEBY’S
Ms Prasetio says: “The auctions in Singapore are part of Sotheby’s long-term vision and commitment in South-east Asia and growth plans in Asia.”
Sotheby’s next stop will be the second edition of its non-selling exhibition in Vietnam, scheduled for summer. Part of the auction house’s celebrations of its 50th anniversary in Asia, the exhibition explores the lives of French artists who travelled and lived in colonial Indochina.
