Sotheby’s fourth sale of Contemporary Art Asia: China Korea Japan in New York far exceeded expectations, commanding $38,448,575, almost $10 million over its high estimate and a record sale for the category of Contemporary Asian Art (est. $19.2/27.9 million). The record for a work by Zhang Xiaogang was broken twice today: the top lot of the sale was one of his earlier works from 1992, Chapter of a New Century - Birth of the People’s Republic of China, which sold for $3,065,000, over its high estimate.The record was briefly held by Zhang Xiaogang’s enigmatic Bloodline Series, Bloodline Series: Comrade, 1995, which commanded $2,505,000, four times its high estimate, also selling to an Anonymous buyer (lot 10, est. $400/600,000). Records were also set for works by Fang Lijun, Liu Ye, Cai Guo-Qiang, Liu Dan, Ai Weiwei and Su Xinping, among others. Xiaoming Zhang, Assistant Vice President and Specialist of Sotheby’s Chinese Contemporary Art department in New York, said: “In today’s dynamic sale we saw a market that is continuing to expand, with a greater depth and diversity in the artists achieving high prices. There was particular significance for contemporary ink painting with the exceptional price achieved for the work by Liu Dan, as well as the recognition of historically significant works by Japanese and Korean artists such as Shiraga Kazou and Lee Ufan, respectively, as well as younger artists. We also saw continued strength by the post-89 China avant-garde artists such as Zhang Xiaogang and Fang Lijun, both of whom achieved new records today.”A number of works in the sale by Chen Yifei, who practiced in the school of Realism brought strong prices, including The Cellist, 1983, a work which demonstrates Chen’s mastery of detail, which brought $2,281,000, selling to an Asian Private collector (lot 13, est. $800,000/1 million). Shanghai Dream, 1998, also realized $993,000, far above the high estimate, also selling to an Asian Private collector (lot 15, est. $250/350,000). Infanta (The Princess), 1997, by Yue Minjun, one of the leading artists in the Cynical Realism movement, sold for $1,945,000 to an Asian Private collector (est. $1.8/2.5 million). Perhaps one of his most powerful paintings to date, Infanta (The Princess) is a rare example of the artist’s nod to Western art history. The work finds inspiration in Diego Velazquez’ famed canvas Las Meninas from 1656, which depicts the Infanta Dona Margarita reluctantly posing for the artist. This follows the sale of his The Pope at Sotheby’s London earlier this year, which brought $4.2 million, a record for a Chinese contemporary artist at auction. The Yue Minjun work was reoffered at the end of the first session. One of the most important works to appear at auction by Fang Lijun, a founder of the Cynical Realist movement, 98.10.1, sold for $1,721,000, a record for the artist at auction, to an Asian Private collector (lot 24, est. $600/800,000). Executed in 1998, this monumental work illustrates the turning-point in the artist’s career when the psychological tension and disillusionment evident in his early works gave way to joyfulness, a theme which characterizes Fang Lijun’s work today. Another highlight of the sale was Liu Ye’s The Little Mermaid, 2004, an example of the artist’s combined themes of Eros and innocence, which achieved $1,385,000, a record for the artist at auction, selling to an Asian Private collector (lot 8, est. $1/1.5 million). Another work by Liu Ye, Der Ausflug (Outing), 1992-93, sold for $737,000 to an Asian Private collector (lot 7, est. $200/300,000). Other highlights in the sale included Cai Guo-Qiang’s Man, Eagle and Eye in the Sky: Eyes (six panels), 2003, the result of an eponymous large-scale collaborative project enacted in Siwa, Egypt, which sold for $1,273,000, a record for the artist at auction, to an Asian Private collector (lot 31, est. $500/700,000); Zeng Fanzhi’s Mask Series No. 15, 1997, whose solitary masked figure before the viewer evokes palpable tension, which achieved $1,273,000, selling to an Asian Private collector (lot 77, est. $500/700,000); Liu Dan’s Dictionary from 1991, a tour de force of an arresting combination of grand scale and minutely detailed perfectionism, which sold for $713,000, a record for a contemporary ink painting at auction (lot 36, est. $250/350,000); and Ai Weiwei’s grandiose Chandelier, 2002, approximately eighteen feet tall and executed in crystal, light bulbs and metal, reflecting the competitive drive among Beijing’s builders for ever greater opulence, sold for $657,000, a record for artist at auction (lot 63, est. $400/600,000).