“IT'S CALLED GOSSIP AND OF COURSE IT'S AN OBSESSION OF MINE” -ANDY WARHOL

In recognition of the rise of a new generation of Asian super-rich, eager to own Asian cultural artefacts once traded in London or New York, Sotheby's has shifted all of its sales of Asian art to Hong Kong.In five days of selling, the auctioneers expect to set a local record of £140 million.Most notably, Sotheby's will host a prestigious "evening sale" of contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong for the first time. Its rival, Christie's, will follow suit with a Hong Kong evening sale in November.The "Chinese contemporary" category is the most rapidly appreciating segment of the global market.According to Quek Chin Yeow, Sotheby's deputy director for Asia, China's new wealth has coincided with a creative blossoming."All great art needs a great movement," he said. In China's case that was provided by the transformation of society as it emerged from the strictures of Maoism in the 1980s.

Telegraph
Sept 28 2008