Going For Baroque
Numbers don’t compute easily when you look at the staggering figures that have emerged from auction houses this past year as top-tier brokers expanded their presence in the city, sending out unmistakable global smoke signals: they are here to stay. Hammers were slamming down in quick succession as the four leading auction houses in Hong Kong displayed remarkable prowess, each carving a unique niche in the dynamic art market—and in their new homes.
Bonhams Hong Kong celebrated a record-breaking 2024, achieving an impressive 18 per cent increase in total sales amounting to HK$670 million, the highest since its inception in 2007. In fact, its new Asia-Pacific headquarters at Six Pacific Place facilitated a 68 per cent surge in private sales, while Christie’s opened its current regional headquarters at the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Henderson, which heralded a remarkable inaugural auction that amassed HK$1.3 billion.
Similarly, Sotheby’s achieved stellar sales at its 24,000-square-foot maison in Central, unveiled last summer, fetching HK$252.5 million for Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Yellow and Blue). Despite a difficult year, the auction house is optimistic in its outlook: An official statement released at the start of 2025 revealed the company’s 2024 earnings, with Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart reporting US$6 billion (HK$46.62 billion) of consolidated sales against what he referred to as “a clearly challenging market backdrop.” While the auction house made better numbers in 2023 with US$7.8 billion (HK$60.61 billion) in sales, all things considered, the results are not too shabby as Sotheby’s figure was “the highest in the industry for last year,” according to ArtNews.
While the art world was going for broke, the design world went hard on minimalism. Embodying the living contradiction of “less is more,” interiors were all about clean lines in kitchens, offices, and shared spaces—think islands of plush sofas, coffee tables with nominal fuss, and furnishings in all the right angles eschewing adornment for function. Even Italians, the noted originators of Baroque in the 17th and 18th centuries, have turned the tables, expressing Nordic minimalism in the shape of sleek lamps, monochrome carpets, prismatic tables, and monotone chairs—has the highly ornate and elaborate been spirited away for good?
Some semblances of curlicues and curvaceous design were evident in tech as vinyl made a comeback and designer chess sets and speakers brought back hints of ostentation with a touch of gold here and a flash of silver there. (Instead of looking forward while engineering gadgets, many are choosing to hark back to simpler times and the age of innocence.) Altogether, these noble houses, producers, and brands not only reflect the thriving ecosystem in art, design, and gear, but also set the stage for a promising future in the world of curated collectibles.
Read the entire feature here at Robb Report Hong Kong.
