An ink-and-color painting by Chinese artist Zhang Daqian fetched HK$8.4 million ($1.1 million), the top lot at the start of a four-day sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong.Zhang's "Hengguan Mountain Road,'' painted around 1964, had a presale estimate of as much as HK$6 million, according to Sotheby's. Zhang's painting was one of 265 Chinese ink pictures offered at the sale, which fetched a combined HK$148.5 million, with 219 lots sold, according to the New York-based auctioneer. Total proceeds, including sale of Southeast Asian art, were HK$243.7 million, according to Sotheby's."The mood is more subdued than last year,'' said Tian Kai, an art dealer who flew in from Beijing to bid at the auction."People are more cautious with their bids.''Sotheby's Hong Kong sale is among the first bellwethers of Asia's art-auction market after an equity rout that triggered a 28 percent fall in China's benchmark CSI 300 Index and a 23 percent drop in Indian stocks in the first quarter. More than in Europe and the U.S., Asia's art market tends to track prevailing financial-market trends, said Cai Mingchao, who paid a record HK$117 million for a Ming Dynasty bronze Buddha in October 2006."At times bidding was measured and careful,'' said C.K. Cheung, Sotheby's head of Chinese paintings, in a statement. Cheung said he was "pleased'' with the results.Paintings by masters such as Zhang (1899-1983) and Xu Beihong (1895-1953) are among the top-selling traditional Chinese artworks. Xu's oil painting"Put Down Your Whip,'' depicting street performers in Japanese-occupied Singapore, sold for HK$72 million ($9.2 million) last April at Christie's International in Hong Kong, an auction record for Chinese painting at the time.A record for Zhang's painting was set in October 2002 with"Crimson Lotuses on Gold Screen,'' which sold for HK$20.2 million, according to Sotheby's.Willow TreeAt this auction, works by Fu Baoshi (1904-1965) exceeded estimates. His"Garden Fete,'' a 1945 ink-and-color painting, fetched HK$4.4 million, compared with the top estimate of HK$600,000. His"Lady by the Willow Tree'' sold for HK$3.7 million, compared with a presale top estimate of HK$1.2 million.In Sotheby's auction of Southeast Asian art, the top lot was Walter Spies's oil painting"Buyansee,'' which fetched HK$5.4 million against the presale top estimate of HK$5.5 million.Indonesian artist I Nyoman Masriadi's"Jago Kandang'' or"Home Champion,'' a 2007 acrylic-on-canvas painting depicting a soccer tackle, sold for HK$2.8 million, a record for a contemporary Southeast Asian painting, according to Sotheby's. The work had a presale top estimate of HK$200,000.Of the 188 Southeast Asian paintings offered, 172 were sold. This is the first year Sotheby's Hong Kong has moved its sale of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian paintings from Singapore.Sotheby's estimates its four-day sale of Ming Dynasty gold, gems and Chinese art will raise more than HK$1.3 billion. The company will offer contemporary Chinese art tomorrow.