Joan Miró
Femme à la voix de rossignol dans la nuit (1971)
Oil on canvas
130 x 195 cm
Courtesy of Sotheby's

What began as an attempt to track down Art Hong Kong fair director Magnus Renfrew for a personal follow-up to our interview (in the upcoming Design Issue) turned into a startling find: a treasure chest of works courtesy of Sotheby’s.

It was possible to pass by the blue-framed room at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong and not realize what sorts of amazing things were inside. But then, the fringe wall said ‘Sotheby’s Diamonds’. Then, a flash of bright green with a little black stroke meant something more was waiting.

It was a peripheral glimpse of one of Fontana’s ‘Concetto Spaziale’ works. That was enough to convince anyone to wander inside…so your jaw could then promptly hit the floor.

Directly ahead, an impressive Miró. Further to the left was the zigzag impression of a man on the phone, courtesy of Gerhard Richter. Over the shoulder was a gentle, contemplative Toulouse-Lautrec. And the hits kept coming with Murakami, Warhol (whose portrait of Debbie Harry is expected to pull in anywhere from 5 to 9.5 million), Renoir, Hirst, and Paul Signac, Jean Dubuffet and John Currin. Against the royal blue walls, every work almost glimmered under high-intensity halogen lamps; there was a delightful realization that here was a mini-museum that could have been missed while walking towards the hotel lobby downstairs. It was like walking into MoMA after someone had left the door open after 3am.

Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art and Contemporary Art Evening Sales kick off in London on the 29h (followed by the Contemporary Day Sale on the 30th) and this was a predictable gesture to court Asian collectors en route to or from Art Hong Kong at the Convention and Exhibition Centre next door. But the routine presentation of high-profile artists alongside an array of white jewels hardly appeared mundane. Yes, one could buy similar works from Acquavella or Gagosian or Blum & Poe at Art HK, but the sheer tucked-away nature of the booth inside the Grand Hyatt made it special.


Henri Tolouse-Lautrec
La Liseuse
Peinture à l'essence on board
68 x 61 cm
Courtesy of Sotheby's


Andy Warhol
Debbie Harry (1980)
Acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas
106.7 x 106.7 cm
Courtesy of Sotheby's


Gerhard Richter
Telephonierender (1965)
Oil on canvas
70 x 130 cm
Courtesy of Sotheby's


Lucio Fontana
Concetto Spaziale, Atteste (1964-5)
Waterpaint on canvas
65.3 x 54 cm
Courtesy of Sotheby's