Zhang Xiaoming, who helped Sotheby's sell millions of dollars worth of Chinese contemporary art over the past few years, recently stepped down from the huge auction house to start her own consultancy, according to art insiders.

Also, Sotheby's said on Aug. 13 that it has decided to stop selling Chinese contemporary art in New York and London and will consolidate all of its Asian contemporary art in two sales every year in Hong Kong, where the auction house has had strong sales over the years. Sotheby's has sold hundreds of millions of dollars of Chinese contemporary art over the past five years, which the highest selling prices occurring in Hong Kong. Now, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and other Asian art will all be sold in Hong Kong. Other locations, such as New York, may simply have pre-sale shows.