黑料不打烊

Hong Kong is the place to be this weekend (May 27-30) for art collectors and professionals as the Hong Kong International Art Fair ART HK 10 returns for its third year at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). To coincide with the fair, leading auction houses are also holding major sales of Asian-themed art while top collectors are in town. Hong Kong is quickly becoming one of the world's primary art market destinations, mainly due to its geographical proximity to mainland China and its wealthy collectors.

Since the fair's inception in 2008, ART HK has welcomed nearly 50,000 visitors. This year, that number is expected to rise as ART HK 10 welcomes over 140 galleries from 27 countries, up from 115 galleries from 24 countries last year. Leading galleries such as Gagosian Gallery, Lisson Gallery & White Cube are returning and, in addition to top level galleries from Asia, ART HK will present a strengthened line-up of western galleries.

A look at ART HK 09:

Numerous blue-chip artworks will be available to collectors at the venue, including Picasso鈥檚 oil portrait of Marie-Th茅r猫se from the Gagosian Gallery. It was another Picasso artwork Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, depicting the same Marie-Th茅r猫se that auctioned off for a record-breaking $106.5 million at Christie's New York earlier this month, the most ever paid for any work of art sold at an auction. Andy Warhol's Myths, which has a price tag of $12 million, will be the most expensive artwork on offer at the fair. Other top tier works include pieces by Damien Hirst, Henry Moore, Subodh Gupta, Yang Shaobin, Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara.

Visitors to the fair will also be able to enjoy a variety of performances, including Noriko Yamaguchi鈥檚 Keitai Girl (mobile phone girl) in which a group of Keitai Girls will dance, march around the booth, and tempt the audience to use 'communication devices' implanted on their bodies. Although these Keitai Girls immortalize modern society鈥檚 obsession with technology and communication, they also thrive on their interactions with others.

Watch Keitai Girls in action:

As the fair is expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors, several prominent auction houses are jumping on the bandwagon, hosting major Asian-themed sales. At the forefront is Christie鈥檚, which is holding no less than eight sales. Its Asian Contemporary Art and Chinese 20th Century Art Evening Sale on May 29 includes 36 lots estimated to sell for up to $25 million, including eight artworks at over $1 million. Sanyu's Vase of Lilies with Red Ground, whose high estimate is over $2.3 million, tops the list while the sale of Andy Warhol鈥檚 Complete set of ten: Mao ($384,000-640,000) marks the first time a work of Western contemporary art will be offered at Christie鈥檚 Hong Kong. Another lot expected to achieve an excellent result is Ju Ming's Taichi Series - Advancing Step Barricade Moving Punch ($1.3 -1.94 million). On May 30, the Chinese 20th Century Art Day Sale will offer 145 lots predicted to sell for up to $10.5 million, while six are expected to achieve a hammer price of at least $300,000.

"Demand from Asia continues to lead the global recovery of the auction market and to drive the growth in 2010," Jonathan Stone, regional managing director of Christie's Asia, told the South China Morning Post. "And indeed, in 2009, Asian art became the second-largest category sold at Christie's worldwide. It now represents 15 per cent of sales, just after Impressionist and modern art."

Bonham's will also host several auctions on May 27-28, including Fine Chinese Paintings and Contemporary Asian Art, which features 80 masterpieces with total estimates of up to $2.4 million. The top lot offered in the auction is Amaranths/ Candle and Mouse/ Baby Chicks by Qi Baishi, with a high esimate of $384,000. On May 29, Asian Auction Week will bring together work from the Asian Art Auction Alliance, K Auction, Kingsley's Art Auction and One East Larasatiat, featuring, among other works, Yoshitomo Nara's Winter Long, estimated to achieve a hammer price of up to $282,000. Another lot of interest is Willem De Koonig's Untitled, set to fetch up to $141,000.