2016年CRI Hong Kong: Record Breaking Prices at Rare Art Auction

 

Renowned¹ Chinese artist Zhang Daqian's painting, called "Peace Blossom Spring," went for 35 million US dollars, including the buyer's premium².

This was more than 3-times the initial estimate by Sotheby's.

Long Museum in Shanghai won the bid after competing against other Chinese private museums, including buyers from Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Kevin Ching, Sotheby's Asia Chief Executive Officer, said this bidding has set a new record for Sotherby's auctions⁴ in Hong Kong.

"The bidding war actually started and actually lasted for over 50 minutes, and it took over a hundred bids to get to the final hammer price. The record breaking hammer price of 271 million Hong Kong dollars. This is a record obviously for the artist. It's a new world record, and the actual bidding process, almost an hour, over a hundred bids, that itself actually is also a record for Sotheby's auctions in Hong Kong."

The painting measures some 82 inches by 36 inches, and shows an idyllic⁵ place where Zhang dreamt of living.

Also in the same auction³, the bidding price for the 10.10-carat blue diamond, originally called the "De Beers Millennium⁶ Jewel 4," reached 32 million US dollars, again including buyer's premium.

This sale has set a new record price for blue diamonds sold in Asia.

Sotheby's says it's the largest oval-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond ever to appear at auction.

David Bennett, the Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby's International Jewellery Division, said he was happy with the result, and that the recent economic downturn did not appear to pose a threat to the auction.

"It's the highest price ever paid for a jewel in Asia. The previous record actually was also here which was the 118 carat oval D colour internal flawless diamond that we sold a couple of years ago, for 30.6 million (US) dollars. So it (blue diamond) comfortably exceeds that. Blue diamonds are, as you all know, extremely rare, they basically come from principally one reliable mine source in the world, the Cullinan mine in South Africa. Whenever they appear at auction, they are extremely sought after."

The Sotheby's spring auction runs 2-6 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Earlier in the week, an oil painting by contemporary Chinese artist Wu Guanzhong was sold for around 30 million US dollars at the Poly Auction Hong Kong, which smashed the record for the most expensive Chinese oil painting sold at auction.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.

1 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

2 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

3 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

4 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

5 idyllic   

adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的

参考例句：

• These scenes had an idyllic air.这种情景多少有点田园气氛。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

6 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。