Poly Macau to hold auction with Poly HK

Sabrina Ho (center) pictured yesterday

Poly Auction Macau is set to hold its first co-auction with Poly Auction Hong Kong in celebration of the Hong Kong firm’s fifth anniversary.

Scheduled to present 20th century Chinese masterpieces, the co-auction will feature several works of contemporary artists, including Zeng Fanzhi and his “Mask Series 1996 No. 6.” Other featured artists include Xu Beihong, Li Keran, Wu Guanzhong, Chu Teh-chun and Zao Wou-ki.

The co-auction titled “Fusion – Special Feature of Chinese Art jointly presented by Hong Kong and Macau,” will include a series of selected Chinese masterpieces from six different artists.

Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference held yesterday at the Regency Art Hotel, director of Poly Auction Macau, Sabrina Ho, described the upcoming auction as special, due to the particularly rare pieces selected to be auctioned.

“They [Hong Kong] have a lot of pieces themselves but we only picked the most important pieces and especially that piece [by Zeng Fanzhi] that we most focus on […] because it’s basically a museum piece and it’s very rare,” she said.

Ho also expressed her gratitude at the newly established auction firm being selected to host the auction for Zeng Fanzhi’s artwork.

According to her, “Mask Series 1996 No. 6,” is one of the top three pieces he has painted.

“We’re only new. Maybe it’s luck, or maybe the culture of our company has been relating to youth culture, a lot of young hotel art fair and young student graduate shows,” Ho, daughter of Stanley Ho, said.

“So I think they admire the culture of the company and out of all the auction houses, they have picked us to auction this really rare museum piece,” she continued.

Meanwhile, the director has noted that they have high hopes for Zeng’s “Mask Series 1996 No. 6,” anticipating a sum as great as his painting “The Last Supper” – which was auctioned for USD23.3 million back in 2013.

“The Last Supper” set a new record price for a work by an Asian contemporary artist.

“Our hope is that it could be as great as The Last Supper to break another record but even so, it has broken the record for Macau,” she said, adding that this art piece is probably one of the most expensive, rare and well-known pieces that has been involved with a locally set up company.

Zeng’s “Mask Series 1996 No. 6” is currently being displayed at the Gallery of Regency Art Hotel until April 5.

No initial price for Zeng’s piece has been indicated in the firm’s statement, however other artworks were estimated to be auctioned from HKD2 million to HKD18 million.

Viewing and the auction will take place at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong from April 1 to April 4.