The 13th edition of Art Basel Hong Kong concluded on March 29, drawing over 91,500 visitors (1,500 more than the reported figure from 2025) across its five-day run at the Convention and Exhibition Centre. The record attendance underscored the city’s resilience as an art-market hub amid a complex geopolitical landscape.
This position was further cemented by a landmark five-year contract between Art Basel and the Hong Kong government, guaranteeing the fair’s exclusivity to the city within the region. Supported by a HK$150 million grant from the Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund—the same body responsible for attracting major events like Coldplay and the Hong Kong Sevens to the city—the agreement marks the first time such a formal, long-term commitment has been signed since Art Basel’s first Hong Kong fair in 2013.
Beyond the fair venue, Hong Kong’s creative energy spilled into the streets thanks to an array of grassroots projects, standout shows, alternative art fairs, and assorted festivities.
Inside the convention center, 240 galleries from 41 countries and territories reported steady sales. Notably, the fair saw an increased presence of galleries from second-tier Chinese cities, while many prominent ones were granted prime booth locations. This strategic shift highlights Art Basel’s efforts to cultivate the untapped potential of collectors from across mainland China’s wider regions.
A 2025 report by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce estimates that over three million private enterprises in China will undergo intergenerational succession within the next decade. This shift is already manifesting in the art market.
These young collectors are widening their scope, pivoting toward female artists and supporting Asian and Asian diaspora creators across all mediums. Ink Studio, which recently opened a new space at Tai Kwun in central Hong Kong, described this edition as a “breakthrough moment.” Co-founder Craig Yee reported the sale of more than 19 works.
The emotional stakes of this new market were vividly captured on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. A post went viral—garnering thousands of likes and hundreds of comments—depicting a young woman collector in tears at the booth of Ingleby Gallery—one of Artsy’s best booths from the fair—after learning that Caroline Walker’s Dolls House (2026) had already been sold. The outpouring of comments underscored a passionate, visceral engagement with contemporary painting that transcends mere investment.
Blue-chip appetites also remained robust, with the leading transaction a €3.5 million ($4.02 million) Pablo Picasso work at BASTIAN. Dealers David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and White Cube were among those reporting seven-figure sales.
Despite the high-profile sales at the top of the market, many exhibitors noted a shift in the speed of transactions compared to years past. “Interest from both private collectors and corporate clients remains very strong, albeit with a more measured pace of acquisitions this year,” observed Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, founder of Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder.
Schwarzwälder pointed out that the broader economic climate has inevitably begun to weigh on collector sentiment, leading to a more cautious approach to new acquisitions. However, she noted that the gallery’s presentation of works by Korean artist Jiyen Lee served as a significant standout in the fair’s Kabinett showcases, dedicated to solo artist presentations. Lee’s intricate works drew both intense visual engagement and steady sales, proving that even in a more cautious market, collectors remain willing to commit to artists with strong institutional and conceptual foundations.
Independent art advisor and auctioneer Elaine Kwok characterized Hong Kong’s market in 2026 as a year of “finally finding its footing,” rather than returning to the “go-go years” of unrestrained growth of the 2000s and 2010s.
According to Kwok, the current environment is rewarding longevity over opportunistic entry. “The galleries that tend to do well in the Asian market are the ones with outposts in the region, or at least with staff on the ground, building deep relationships throughout the year,” she observed. “You can’t expect to waltz into the fair once a year and expect collectors to buy; you need to invest in relationship-building all year round.”
Here, we round up the key sales reported by galleries at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026.
Top sales at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026
Snow White, 2006
Liu Ye
David Zwirner
David Zwirner led reported sales with a 2006 painting by Liu Ye, Snow White, which sold for $3.8 million. Other major placements from the gallery included:
- A 2002 painting by Marlene Dumas for $3.5 million.
- A 2019 painting by Michaël Borremans for $1.1 million.
- A 1999 work on paper by Yoshitomo Nara for $900,000.
- A 1999 work on paper by Raymond Pettibon for $680,000.
- Andra Ursuța’s sculpture Phantom Mass (2026) for $400,000.
- A new painting by Mamma Andersson for $400,000.
- A 2023 sculpture by Huma Bhabha for $300,000.
- A new painting by Lucas Arruda for $250,000.
- Two paintings by Yu Nishimura for a price in the range of $40,000–$120,000.
- Multiple paintings by Walter Price for a price in the range of $30,000–$90,000.
BASTIAN sold Pablo Picasso’s Le peintre et son modèle (1964) for “approximately” €3.5 million ($4.02 million).
Perdu CCXXVII, 2026
Lee Bul
Hauser & Wirth
Garden, 2025-2026
Qiu Xiaofei
Hauser & Wirth
Hauser & Wirth led sales with two major works by Louise Bourgeois: À Baudelaire (#1) (2008) for $2.95 million and Couple (2002), which was placed with an Asian foundation for $2.2 million. Other highlights included:
- George Condo’s Prismatic Head (2021) for $2.3 million.
- Rashid Johnson’s mixed-media work Broken Soul “Gifts and Messages” (2025) for $750,000.
- Avery Singer’s Chambers St. (v.2) (2026) for $575,000 to a private collector in Asia.
- Qiu Xiaofei’s Garden (2025–2026) for $395,000 to an Asian private collection.
- Flora Yukhnovich’s Be Walking Trees. Be Talking Beasts. (2026) for $325,000 to an Asian private collection.
- Two works by Lee Bul: a 2026 wall work for $275,000 to an Asian museum, and a second work for $260,000 to an Asian private collector.
Waddington Custot’s sales were led by a work by Zao Wou-Ki with an asking price of $2.8 million and two works by Chu Teh-Chun for asking prices of $1.3 million and $1.2 million, respectively.
Deux Papillons sur un Vase Bleu, 1948
Fernand Léger
Cardi Gallery
La Torre, 1966
Giorgio de Chirico
Cardi Gallery
Cardi Gallery’s sales included Fernand Léger’s Deux Papillons sur un Vase Bleu (1948) for $1.8 million and Giorgio de Chirico’s La Torre (1966) for $800,000.
White Cube’s sales were led by Tracey Emin’s Take me to Heaven (2024), which sold for £1.2 million ($1.6 million). Other sales included:
- Antony Gormley’s Plane (2025) for £500,000 ($665,000).
- Mona Hatoum’s Still Life (medical cabinet) IV (2024) for £225,000 ($299,000).
Basketball #5, 1981
Elaine de Kooning
Berry Campbell Gallery
Thaddaeus Ropac’s sales were led by Martha Jungwirth’s Ohne Titel (2021), which sold for €460,000 ($530,000) to a Chinese institution. Additional sales included:
- Megan Rooney’s The Reclining Sky (2025–26) for £280,000 ($372,000).
- Oliver Beer’s Resonance Painting (The Air Around Us) (2026) for £55,000 ($73,000).
- Heemin Chung’s Howling Blue (2025) for $24,000.
Berry Campbell Gallery’s sales were led by Lynne Drexler’s Multipile Moons (1973) for $425,000. Other sales included:
- Alice Baber’s The Mountain Ladder to the Sea (1974) for $275,000.
- Elaine de Kooning’s Basketball #5 (1981) for $100,000.
- Additional unspecified works ranging in price from $25,000–$40,000 apiece.
More key sales at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026
Perrotin reported that approximately 70 percent of its booth sold on the first day, including two sold-out solo presentations and a Takashi Murakami work for $600,000–$800,000.
Sprüth Magers placed Anne Imhof’s Poppy Runner III (2025) with an Asian institution for €220,000 ($253,000). Other sales included:
- Salvo’s Reykjavik (2009) for $135,000.
- David Salle’s Untitled (2024) for $42,000.
Lehmann Maupin placed over 15 works in the $20,000–$400,000 range, featuring artists including Lee Bul, Do Ho Suh, and Mandy El-Sayegh.
Jessica Silverman’s sales included Judy Chicago’s Vicky’s Center (2023) for $165,000 and Atsushi Kaga’s Homage to Jakuchū – Panel 2 (2025) for $125,000.
Kukje Gallery’s sales included two paintings by Ha Chong-hyun for $180,000 each, a Pacita Abad trapunto work for a price in the range of $250,000–$300,000, and a work by Kim Tschang-Yeul for $40,000.
Taka Ishii Gallery sold Jade Fadojutimi’s That day she grieved for the life she never had (2026) for approximately £350,000 ($465,000).
Damaged Gene , 1998
Dinh Q. Lê
P.P.O.W
MASSIMODECARLO sold a painting by Yan Pei-Ming for €250,000–€350,000 ($287,000–$402,000) and a Danh Vō bronze cast for €200,000–€300,000 ($230,000–$345,000).
P•P•O•W sold seven works by Martin Wong, Dinh Q. Lê, Erin M. Riley, and Kyle Dunn for $600,000–$650,000 in total.
Additional sales at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026
Additional notable sales reported by galleries from the fair included:
- Ink Studio sold more than 19 works at the fair, including “several” by Bingyi, ranging from $60,000 to $70,000 apiece, and a Li Huasheng ink-on-paper work for $95,000.
- Alex Daniels-Reflex Amsterdam sold over 30 works by Peggy Kuiper for €8,000–€50,000 ($9,200–$57,500) apiece.
- YveYANG Gallery sold 15 works by Li Tangting for $5,000–$10,000 each.
- Plan X sold ThankYouX’s Quiet Balance (2026) for $50,000 and an unspecified number of Kevin Abosch prints for $10,000–$58,000 each.
- Flowers sold seven works by Movana Chen for $5,000–$10,000 each.
- TAEX sold an unspecified number of archival prints by Kevin Abosch for prices ranging between $10,000–$58,000.
- Uffner & Liu sold six works from its booth for a total price of $100,000–$120,000.
- Gagosian reported sales across works by Louise Bonnet, Takashi Murakami, Ed Ruscha, and Stanley Whitney for unspecified prices.
Browse a selection of for-sale works from Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 galleries here.
