ART Basel in Hong Kong wrapped up its fourth edition Saturday, attracting a record 70,000 visitors to peruse through art from 239 galleries from across the globe during its five-day run at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. The week also included a number of parties, exhibitions, events and festivities that surrounded the main fair.

    Sales appeared to be strong, despite concerns about the impact of the recent economic slowdown in China on the international art market.

    Works continued to sell through the last day of the five-day fair, reflecting what many say is a tendency by collectors in the region to make decisions about major purchases slowly.

    Of the 239 galleries featured in this year’s fair, Cardi Gallery of London and Milan notched one of the biggest sales, a work by CY Twombly that had an asking price of US$10 million. It was bought by a private European collector.

    Several galleries, including Tina Keng Gallery in Taipei and Beijing, David Kordansky Gallery in Los Angeles, and Pace Gallery in New York, reported sales of all or nearly all of the works they exhibited.

    “Before, the fair was always good, but this year it was spectacular,” said Leng Lin, regional partner of Pace Asia. “We met a lot of new collectors this year, as in the past, and the desire to buy was still very strong.”

    Pace sold four works by Robert Rauschenberg, including one to an important Asian museum, according to Leng. In all, he said, the gallery sold around 25 works, including pieces by Yoshitomo Nara and Zhang Xiaogang and, on the last day, Agnès Martin and Alexander Calder.

    Western galleries reported steady sales. Dominique Lévy Gallery of New York, London and Geneva sold an untitled Rudolf Stingel painting with an asking price of US$1.9 million. Lehmann Maupin of New York, London and Hong Kong sold two works by Tracey Emin for between US$56,700 and US$354,000, and six works by the South Korean artist Do Ho Suh that were priced between US$10,000 and US$200,000.

    Hauser & Wirth sold a painting by Mark Bradford for US$1.5 million, as well as a painting by Alexander Calder and three works by Louise Bourgeois for undisclosed amounts. David Zwirner of New York and London reported its best year at the fair, selling five works by the Belgian artist Michaël Borremans made especially for Hong Kong for up to US$1.6 million, as well as a 2008 painting titled “Forever” by Luc Tuymans for US$1.6 million.

    Tyler Rollins Fine Art in New York sold four works by the Vietnamese-American artist Tiffany Chung for US$28,000 each. It also sold a large installation by Chung artist to M+, the museum of visual culture that is scheduled to open in Hong Kong in 2019.

    Among Asian galleries, Chemould Prescott Road of Mumbai, India, sold several works by the artist and architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai to the M Woods Museum in Beijing for US$10,000 each. Ink Studio in Beijing, which was exhibiting at the fair for the first time, sold several works by Li Huasheng for between US$58,000 and US$120,000, while Long March Space in Beijing sold works by a number of Chinese artists, including Wang Jingwei and Zhan Wang.

    Many dealers, including Leng of Pace Asia, said that educating and forging links with new collectors in the region was as important as making sales.

    “There might be big ebbs and flows, but it’s going to stay in a growth phase for a long time,” he said.(SD-Agencies)