Asian art powers on in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

FEARS of an art market in decline proved unfounded - at least in the first few days of Art Basel Hong Kong (ABHK) where numerous blue-chip works with at least five-figure US dollar price tags flew off the walls during the VIP preview.

Notably, many of these works were by Asian artists, signalling a wider recognition of Asian art as well as a general sense that ABHK is the market for Asian art.

Despite the fact that Asia's biggest art fair has always maintained a 50-50 balance of Western and Asian galleries, earlier editions have often boasted more pricey purchases of works by Western favourites such as Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst than of Asian ones.

But the tide appears to be slo…