K-Auction Sells 13.6 Billion KRW Worth at March Major Auction... Highest in 4 Years

On the 17th, the March major auction took place at the K-Auction headquarters in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Art auction company K Auction recorded the highest total hammer price in the past four years at its March major auction.

K Auction announced on the 18th that it exhibited 166 lots and successfully sold 123 lots at a major auction held on the 17th at its headquarters in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, achieving a hammer rate of 74% and a total hammer price of 13.5803 billion KRW. This is the highest figure in four years since April 2017, when the total hammer price was approximately 16.4 billion KRW. Originally, 169 lots were planned to be exhibited, but three lots were canceled due to circumstances.

The highest-priced work at the auction was Yayoi Kusama's 'Infinity Nets (ZZOOX)', which started bidding at 1.2 billion KRW and was sold for 1.31 billion KRW after several competitive bids.

All nine works by the late artist Kim Chang-yeol were sold. Among them, 'Water Drops LSH70', created in 1979, was auctioned at 300 million KRW and sold for 360 million KRW, marking the highest price among the nine lots. A small work of size No. 1, created in 1977, started bidding at 10 million KRW and was sold for an impressive 82 million KRW, attracting the most competitive bidding. The total hammer price for the nine works by Kim was 1.462 billion KRW.

Water Drops (1977) by Artist Kim Chang-yeol.

Among the seven works by Lee Ufan, five were sold, recording a total hammer price of 2.655 billion KRW. 'With the Wind', created in 1987, was sold for 1.3 billion KRW, while 'From Line' and 'From Point' found new owners at 550 million KRW and 420 million KRW respectively.

Park Seo-bo's works, which began exhibition at White Cube in London, UK, on the 17th, were all sold, bringing in a total hammer price of 921 million KRW. The highest-priced work among them was 'Myobeop No. 060330', which started bidding at 270 million KRW and was sold for 400 million KRW after competitive bidding. Jeong Sang-hwa's works, scheduled for a retrospective at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art starting in May, also sold all five lots, recording a total of 1.212 billion KRW.

Andy Warhol's work 'Queen Elizabeth II of United Kingdom: Reigning Queens (Royal Edition)' started bidding at 80 million KRW and was sold for 220 million KRW after fierce competition. This work is a Royal Edition decorated with diamond dust, produced in only 30 sets, and was purchased and exhibited by the Royal Collection Trust (RCT) of the British royal family.

Other edition works by Yayoi Kusama, Gerhard Richter, Julian Opie, Jonas Wood, Mr. Doodle, Ayako Rokkaku, and others also found new owners, including Georg Baselitz's 'Laktionov die Neue Wohnung' sold for 900 million KRW and Fran?ois Morellet's 'π Puissant N°.1=2°' sold for 120 million KRW.

The highest-priced work sold in the antique art category was 'Binpung Chilwoldo', which started bidding at 30 million KRW and was sold for an impressive 125 million KRW.

K Auction allowed auction attendance and on-site bidding only to customers who made prior reservations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.