Modern & Contemporary Art Fall Auctions
Phillips Hong Kong
Auctions: 27 and 28 September 2025
Preview: 22 - 28 September 2025
On 27 and 28 September, Phillips will present Modern & Contemporary Art Fall Auctions in Hong Kong, held in celebration of the company’s 10th anniversary in Asia. Taking place on 27 September, the Evening Sale features exceptional works by the most prominent international artists, including Yoshitomo Nara, Zao Wou-Ki, Tom Wesselmann, Yayoi Kusama, Georges Mathieu, Andy Warhol, and Ruth Asawa, alongside cutting-edge works by in-demand young talents such as Hao Liang, Loie Hollowell, Lucas Arruda and Jonathan Gardner. The Day Sale on 28 September features a dynamic range of works—from established modern masters and blue-chip contemporary artists to rising talents. A key highlight is two exceptional private collections of Asian Modern Art: one includes rare works by Zao Wou-Ki, preserved in a private collection for over 75 years and never before seen by the public; the other showcases a remarkable selection of Southeast Asian pieces by Mai Trung Thứ. Collectors and art enthusiasts are invited to explore the works in person at Phillips’ West Kowloon Galleries during the public preview, which will be open from 22-28 September.
Danielle So, Hong Kong Head of Auctions, Phillips, and Rebecca Hu, Head of Sale, Modern & Contemporary Art, Phillips Hong Kong, jointly said: “This season’s sales present an exceptional opportunity for collectors to acquire outstanding works by the most influential blue-chip contemporary artists and post-war masters. Nearly two-thirds of the Evening Sale will feature works making their auction debut, with only nine pieces having appeared publicly in the past 16 years. As we celebrate our 10-year anniversary in Asia, this season’s Evening and Day Sales in Hong Kong hold special significance for us and for the collectors who have shared this remarkable journey over the past decade. Highlights include signature pieces long held in distinguished private collections, works with notable exhibition histories, and works of exceptional provenance — from a fresh-to-market 2000 Yoshitomo Nara, to Tom Wesselmann’s iconic work that once set the artist’s auction record and has been preserved in the same collection for 18 years, to Zao Wou-Ki’s monumental canvas with exceptional international exposure. We are equally proud to highlight works by visionary women artists in this season’s sales, presented in parallel with our neighbor M+’s special exhibition ‘Dream Rooms: Environments by Women Artists 1950s–Now’.”
LEADING HIGHLIGHTS
Pinky, 2000
acrylic on canvas, 160 x 145 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$60,000,000-80,000,000/
US$7,690,000-10,260,000
The Evening Sale will be led by Yoshitomo Nara’s seminal work Pinky. Coming to the auction market for the very first time, this masterpiece was painted in the artist’s watershed year of 2000, the same year as Nara's two highest auction records. Out of 33 paintings the artist created in 2000, only 11 share Pinky’s arresting "head-and-shoulders" composition. Directly succeeding in Volume I of his most extensive catalogue raisonne, the present work is the first of only four Pinky subjects in Nara’s entire oeuvre and the purest distillation of his lifelong meditation on solitude.
27.01.86, 1986
oil on canvas, 200 x 162 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$30,000,000 – 40,000,000/
US$3,850,000-5,130,000
Among the top lots of the Evening Sale is Zao Wou-Ki’s 27.01.86. In this work, he uses the attributes of ink—thickness, thinness, dryness, wetness—to construct a multi-dimensional composition of depth and expansiveness, symbolizing growth like a tree of life reaching into infinite space. Between 1985 and 1990, Zao produced several works in this vein, yet among these single-panel compositions, 27.01.86 stands out as one of the largest and most intricate. In 1988, he extended this vision in an abstract painting commissioned by the Seoul Olympic Committee to embody the Olympic spirit, a work that shares stylistic affinities with 27.01.86. The present work holds a rare place in Zao Wou-Ki’s oeuvre for its exceptional international exposure. Shortly after its completion, it was featured in the artist’s large-scale solo exhibition at Galerie Artcurial in Paris in 1988, and later, in 2004, in a major retrospective at Tokyo’s Bridgestone Museum of Art. It was also included in Art and Artists of 20th Century China, the collection of Oxford fellow and art historian Michael Sullivan. These recognitions underscore the painting’s power to transcend cultural and geographic boundaries.
Smoker #17, 1975
oil on shaped canvas, 243.8 x 332.7 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 20,000,000 - 30,000,000/
US$ 2,560,000 - 3,850,000
Also among the leading highlights of this season’s Evening Sale is Tom Wesselmann’s Smoker #17 from his iconic Smoker series — a work that, when last offered at auction in May 2007, set a world record for the artist. A central figure in the American Pop Art movement, Wesselmann began the Smoker series in 1967, marking a pivotal evolution in his exploration of sensuality, form, and painterly detail. With Smoker #1 now in MoMA’s permanent collection, the series remains a defining chapter in his oeuvre. Inspired by a spontaneous moment during his Mouth series studies, Wesselmann’s addition of a lit cigarette and curling smoke introduced heightened eroticism and visual complexity. Smoker #17 captures this shift with a meticulously balanced composition — voluptuous red lips, a poised hand, and languid smoke — evoking both cinematic allure and psychological intensity.
VISIONARY WOMEN IN ART
In a market where works by women artists continue to command global attention, Phillips presents an extraordinary roster of the most celebrated female voices in contemporary art across its Evening and Day Sales. Highlights include a diverse range of works by Yayoi Kusama — from her iconic Infinity Nets canvas to a hand-painted denim jacket. Equally significant is the debut of Japanese-American artist Ruth Asawa’s work at auction in Hong Kong, building on the momentum of her acclaimed solo exhibition in the city last Fall. A transformative figure in the art world, Ruth Asawa has been the subject of celebrated museum retrospectives, and her influence will be further cemented with a landmark exhibition opening at New York’s MoMA in October 2025.
Untitled S.013
(Hanging Single-Lobed, Five-Layer
Continuous Form within a Form), 1987
hanging sculpture, woven oxidised copper wire,
20 x 29 x 29 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 2,200,000 - 4,200,000/
US$ 282,000 - 538,000
Ruth Asawa's metal wire weaving blurs the boundary between sculpture and craft, between refinement and popular appeal. During World War II, her Japanese heritage led to her internment in a detention camp; the shadow cast by barbed wire was entrapped within her childhood memories. In subsequent creations, she transformed this symbol of restraint into a metaphor of connection. In Untitled S.013 offered in this season’s Evening Sale, she uses weaving techniques inspired by Mexican traditions to create forms that balance transparency and density, inviting light and air into the sculptural experience.
Hung (down), 2016
oil and acrylic on linen mounted to panel,
121.9 x 91.4 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 4,500,000 - 6,500,000/
US$ 577,000 - 833,000
Loie Hollowell’s Hung (Down) is a pivotal work that showcases her distinctive fusion of geometric abstraction and corporeal symbolism. It uses vibrant colour and symmetrical form to evoke themes of femininity, sexuality, and political tension—particularly in response to the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the media’s treatment of Hillary Clinton. Presented in her sold-out solo show Mother Tongue, the painting marks the beginning of her hybrid approach, blending painting with sculptural elements. It also draws on the legacy of pioneering female artists like Agnes Pelton and Georgia O’Keeffe, incorporating spiritual symbolism and sensual forms that echo their iconic visual languages.
20TH CENTURY MODERN MASTERS
In addition to Zao Wou-Ki’s 27.01.86, this season’s Hong Kong Sales presents an exceptional selection of Modern works by 20th-century masters from both East and West. Highlights include pieces by Georg Baselitz, Pierre Soulages, Salvador Dalí, and Georges Mathieu, Chu Teh-Chun, alongside two outstanding private collections of Asian Modern Art, featuring rare and important works by Zao Wou-Ki and Mai Trung Thứ.
Air de France, 1967
oil on canvas, 175.7 x 451 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 3,000,000 - 5,000,000/
US$ 385,000 - 641,000
Georges Mathieu stands as a defining force of post-war abstraction, credited with pioneering the movement he named “lyrical abstraction.” Rejecting geometric rigidity, he championed pure, unrestrained gesture — sweeping calligraphic lines executed with long brushes or paint applied directly from the tube in bursts of immediacy and velocity. Celebrated through major retrospectives and public commissions in the 1960s–70s, Georges Mathieu expanded his influence into tapestry, sculpture, architecture, and design. This monumental canvas offered in this season’s Evening Sale, created on commission for Air France and unveiled at an exhibition inaugurated by French cultural minister André Malraux. It encapsulates his philosophy of “no preconceived form” and the ecstatic, Dionysian energy that defined his most iconic works.
Zao Wou-Ki
Untitled, 1948
oil on cardboard, 37 x 46 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 2,000,000 - 3,000,000/
US$ 256,000 - 385,000
In the Day Sale, Phillips presents six rare works by Zao Wou-Ki from the Bottemer family collection. Upon arriving in Paris in 1948, Zao formed a close friendship with Claude Bottemer, a French sculptor, and his wife, an early bond that profoundly shaped his formative years in France. The works in this collection bear intimate witness to that friendship, offering a glimpse of Zao’s artistic journey during his first years abroad. Carefully preserved in the family’s private collection for more than 75 years and never before seen by the public, these pieces reveal a rich spectrum of creative exploration. A highlight of the collection is Untitled, a standout from 1948 in which Zao begins to depart from figurative and traditional perspective.
Transparence voil, 2003
1920-2014
oil on canvas, 130 x 96.5 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 2,000,000 - 3,000,000/
US$ 256,000 - 385,000
Presented in Day Sale, Transparence voilée exemplifies Chu Teh-Chun’s lyrical abstraction, with translucent layers of oil pigment and fluid, calligraphic brushwork that evokes movement, memory, and dreamlike serenity. Featured prominently in the 2004 exhibition Chu Teh-Chun and His Universe at the University Museum and Art Gallery in Hong Kong, the work highlights Chu’s mastery of light and his unique ability to bridge Eastern and Western artistic traditions, solidifying his legacy in both French and Chinese art history.
Walk in the Garden, 1971
gouache on silk, in artist’s frame, work 57.5 x 31 cm.
Estimate: HK$ 800,000 - 1,200,000/
US$ 103,000 - 154,000
Mai Trung Thu was a pioneering figure in Vietnam’s progressive art movement of the 1930s, among the first to receive formal Western art training at the School of Fine Arts of Indochina alongside peers such as Le Pho, Vu Cao Dam, and Le Thi Luu, and one of the earliest Vietnamese painters to build a successful career in Paris. Renowned for his refined silk paintings that blended Eastern and Western aesthetics, he captured the poetic essence of everyday life through images of graceful women, children, and intimate family scenes, helping to shape the identity of modern Vietnamese art. Walk in the Garden offered in this season’s Day Sale epitomises this vision, combining folk-inspired imagery with modernist abstraction in a balanced composition of flat planes, elegant silhouettes, and delicate contours, evoking a nostalgic, idealised vision of Vietnam.
POP ART PIONEERS, FROM WARHOL TO MURAKAMI
Hearts Pink, 1982
acrylic, silkscreen ink and diamond dust on canvas,
38 x 38 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 1,600,000 - 2,400,000/
US$ 205,000 - 308,000
In early 1979, Andy Warhol produced a series of small-scale heart paintings inspired by Valentine’s Day motifs, originally conceived as gifts for friends at Studio 54. Although Warhol had occasionally incorporated heart imagery as early as the 1950s, it wasn’t until the early 1980s that he revisited the theme in a more systematic and sustained way, creating multiple series. Hearts Pink offered in the Evening Sale belongs to his later period, distinguished by the use of universal symbols—such as skulls and dollar signs—rendered in bold colours and visually arresting compositions. More than a simple portrayal of a heart, Hearts Pink exemplifies Warhol’s quintessential Pop Art strategy: the deconstruction and reinvention of emotional symbols through a lens of cultural critique and aesthetic innovation.
I stare into your eye, 2020
acrylic on canvas, diameter 150 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 3,500,000 - 5,500,000/
US$ 449,000 - 705,000
Takashi Murakami, a pioneering figure of the Superflat Movement at the turn of the millennium, is renowned for merging fine art with pop culture through vibrant, anime- and manga-inspired works that critique consumerism, history, and identity. His playful yet incisive aesthetic was exemplified in I stare into your eyes, a standout piece offered in this season’s Day Sale, which explored the layered visual language of Superflat and the enduring influence of Japanese ceramic arts. With its vividly coloured concentric circles, the work invites viewers into a paradoxical realm of superficiality that demands deeper reflection.
CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART
Chinese contemporary art — particularly works by artists born between the 1970s and 1990s — has attracted strong interest and spirited bidding at Phillips’ Hong Kong Auctions in recent seasons, achieving impressive sell-through rates. This season, Phillips is delighted to present a compelling selection of Chinese contemporary works, including Zeng Fanzhi, Huang Yuxing, Hao Liang, Yue Minjun, Fang Yuan, Chen Fei, Xiyao Wang, and more.
Butterfly City, 2010
ink and colour on silk, 166 x 98 cm.
Image courtesy of Phillips
Estimate: HK$ 3,800,000 - 5,800,000
US$ 487,000 - 744,000
Offered in the Evening Sale, Hao Liang’s Butterfly City unfolds from a bird’s‑eye view, revealing a silent classical city where butterflies alone drift through the air, their wings casting shadows like ghosts of history or flames of life. Inspired by the metamorphic vision of “Clarice” in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, the work transforms literary allegory into a dreamlike rebirth of the ancient city, poised between lightness and weight, the fleeting and the eternal. Painted on silk with meticulous gongbi brushwork, Hao inherits the precision of Song and Yuan boundary painting yet breaks from traditional spatial logic to create a surreal symbolic order. The butterflies infuse the scene with cyclical renewal, awakening classical technique with the vitality of a contemporary fable. Bridging Eastern and Western perspectives, ancient and modern aesthetics, the work hovers between reality and illusion — a cross‑cultural love poem to memory.
Modern & Contemporary Art Hong Kong Evening Sale
Date: 7pm HKT, 27 September 2025
Modern & Contemporary Art Hong Kong Day Sale
Date: 2pm HKT, 28 September 2025
Hong Kong Preview: 22-28 September 11:00-19:00| G/F, WKCDA Tower, West Kowloon Cultural District, No. 8 Austin Road West
Location: G/F, WKCDA Tower, West Kowloon Cultural District, No. 8 Austin Road West, Kowloon, Hong Kong
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