Hong Kong’s Art Market Emerges from a Tumultuous Year with Optimism

By Payal Uttam

It’s been a difficult time for the Hong Kong art world. After the pro-democracy protests last year, the city was jolted by the cancellation of Art Basel in Hong Kong in March, confronted with the news of the new security law, and hit by multiple waves of the coronavirus. Despite the ongoing challenges posed by COVID-19, galleries and auction houses are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

According to a recent report by ArtTactic, Hong Kong has now overtaken London as the second-biggest contemporary art auction market in the world after New York. In the first eight months of this year, the city increased its market share to 26%, up from 20% for the whole of 2019, with $314.6 million in auction sales, compared to London’s $303.5 million.

Installation view of “The Palm at the End of the Mind” at Blindspot Gallery, 2020. Courtesy of Blindspot Gallery.

“There’s a lot of pent-up desire and hunger for art,” Kevin Ching, CEO of Sotheby’s Asia, said of collectors in the greater China region. “The market in Asia is very resilient. After the Lehman Brothers crash, it was the first to recover, and this time with COVID, it seems to prove our strength yet again.”...READ MORE