HONG KONG—Sotheby's five-day auction in Hong Kong kicked off on Saturday and saw mixed results over the weekend in the wake of the mounting economic crisis, Bloomberg reports.

Forty percent of the lots went unsold at the October 4 evening sale of modern and contemporary Asian art. A number of records were set, however — including for Indonesian artists Agus Suwage, Affandi, and Handiwirman Saputra, and Filipino Ronald Ventura. Indonesia's I Nyoman Masriadi's Sorry Here, Saya Lupa set a new record for Southeast Asian art, bringing in HK$4.8 million (U.S.$618,000), eight times its high estimate.

Results were less encouraging at the October 5 morning sale of 20th-century Chinese art, where two-thirds of the 110 lots, many by star artists, went unsold. The highest earner was an abstract piece, 7 Aout 2000, by Zeo Wou-Ki, which brought in $4.2 million. The session totaled just $35 million.

Buyers continued to avoid the most expensive works at the October 5 evening sale of contemporary Chinese art, which brought in $90.3 million. The top lot was an oil on canvas by Yue Minjun that went for $6.6 million. Zeng Fanzhi's Mask Series, with a presale high estimate of $12 million, was among the lots that failed to sell, as did two works by Zhang Xiaogang.

"It's quite a down market," said Ivan Chin, a Singapore-based entrepreneur who bought Cai Guo Qiang's Money Net — Project for Royal Academy of Art for $4.8 million. "People just can't justify paying such huge prices as a time like this."

The action woke up a bit at today's morning sale of modern and contemporary Southeast Asian paintings. I Nyoman Masriadi's painting The Man From Bantul (The Final Round) broke his own two-day-old record by fetching $7.8 million. The session totaled $40.6 million and was the liveliest so far in the marathon of sales.

"Investors, not collectors, are driving up Southeast Asian art prices," said Shirley Ben Bashat, a Hong Kong gallerist. "Why buy a Zhang Xioagang when you know prices won't flip 10 times? Why not buy works by young painters that might?"

Sotheby's representatives stated that were happy with the results so far. "Is there an economic crisis?" auctioneer Chin Yeow Quek quipped at this morning's sale.

The auction house estimated the five-day auction would bring in $2 billion.