A work by deceased Chinese painter Lin Fengmian of fisherwomen was the star lot at a Hong Kong sale which raised HK$159 million ($20.5 million) yesterday as buyers chose works by masters and rarely auctioned artists.

Lin’s oil-on-canvas “Fishing Harvest,” painted between the 1950s and 1960s and showing the catch being sorted, fetched HK$16.3 million, an auction record for the artist. It had a presale top estimate of HK$3.5 million and sold to an unidentified Asian private collector during Sotheby’s sale of 20th-century Chinese and contemporary Asian art. Of the 209 lots offered, 158 sold. Estimates don’t include commission.

Investors are converting currency into tangible assets, including art, on concern the multibillion-dollar stimulus spending by governments aimed at ending recession would cause inflation, dealers say. Governments and central banks in 19 of the largest developed countries are spending 43 percent of their gross domestic product to end the worst crisis since the Great Depression, the International Monetary Fund said on March 6.

“It’s safer to hold good assets, such as artworks by established artists, than currency,” said Tian Kai, a Beijing- based art dealer, who flew in to attend the auction.

Works by masters outshone those by contemporary artists. The second most expensive work sold yesterday was also by Lin, a master who helped found the school that would become the China Academy of Art. His oil-on-canvas work, “Chinese Opera Figures: Heroines of the Yangs,” fetched HK$8.4 million, against a top estimate of HK$2 million. In third place was Chang Yu’s 1955 oil work, “Potted Peonies,” which sold for HK$6.3 million.

Zhang Painting

“Untitled,” a 2006 oil-on-canvas painting by Chinese contemporary artist Zhang Xiaogang which shows the face of a boy with a yellow patch of light across his left eye, sold for HK$4.8 million. At the same auction last year, a 1995 Zhang painting sold for HK$47.4 million, a record for the artist.

“They are more reasonably priced,” said Sandra Walters, a Hong Kong-based collector who runs a namesake art-consulting company. “Here’s a chance to buy excellent pieces at fire-sale prices.”

Works by other auction stars such as Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi also sold -- though at a fraction of last year’s prices. Zeng’s 1998 oil-on-canvas, “Mask Series: Man with Flower,” fetched HK$3.6 million. Yue’s 2005 oil painting, “Armed Forces,” sold for HK$4.6 million.

Asian collectors bought all but one of the 20 most expensive lots today, Sotheby’s results show.

In a departure from Hong Kong’s auction tradition, the event today featured the largest selection of non-painting contemporary artworks publicly sold in the city.

Pearl Bowls

Two bowls, each nearly a meter in diameter and filled with clear-water pearls, by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei fetched HK$1.7 million, against a presale top estimate of HK$1.2 million.

Two bidders -- one in the salesroom, the other on the phone -- waged a three-minute tug-of-war over Huang Yongping’s 3.15 meter-by-4.1 meter-by 2.36 meter wooden chariot; the phone bidder eventually won, paying HK$3.38 million for the lot, which had a presale estimate of HK$1.5 million.

Works by Ai and Huang are acclaimed, though they rarely appear at auctions because of their bulk.

Yayoi Kusama’s meter-tall yellow pumpkin, made of fiber- reinforced plastic, fetched HK$2.72 million, a record for a sculpture by the artist. A set of 36 photographs by Chinese artist Song Dong, “Stamping the Water,” fetched HK$800,000, against a presale top estimate of HK$900,000.

Works by Hong Kong artists, which are rare at auction, did well, said dealers. An ink-on-woodboard and chromogenic print by Tsang Tsou Choi, nicknamed Kowloon Emperor by locals, sold for HK$212,500, seven times its top estimate.

The sale continues today with the auction of watches and jewelry.

Sotheby’s buyers’ commission is 25 percent of the hammer price for the first HK$400,000, 20 percent for the amount between HK$400,001 and HK$8 million, and 12 percent for the amount above that.