The second and final tranche of the Ullens Collection of Chinese contemporary art went under the hammer at Sotheby's last night with results that confirmed the strength of the sector, even if they lacked the fireworks that marked the opening sale from this collection in spring.                                                                           

Unlike that first session, Sunday's sale was not a white-glove affair: a handful of works were bought in and others sold below their low estimates. But the sale easily exceeded its high estimate of $13.5 million (without buyers premium) to net $17 million (including the premium). The tally lifted the total realized from Ullens sales to $54.8 million — a record for a single-owner sale of Chinese contemporary art.

Before the auction, Guy Ullens announced that this would be the last time he would offer Chinese contemporary works from his current collection at auction. That would leave a number of important works still in the Ullens' possession, including canvases from Zhang Xiaogang's iconic "Bloodline" series and Zeng Fanzhi's "Mask Series." Ullens was at pains this time to confirm his continuing interest in collecting Chinese contemporary art, stating that he looked forward to "building and enhancing" his collection by "working with ground-breaking artists from China, India, Japan, and Korea."

This statement — on top of the decision last week to appoint Phil Tinari as the new director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in Beijing — seems likely to quiet rumors that the Ullens are getting out of Chinese contemporary art.

The top ten lots in the sale all went to private Asian collectors, with European and U.S. collectors time and again coming in as underbidders. After the sale, Sotheby's contemporary Asian art head Evelyn Lin declined to identify the buyers of the top ten works, though she did confirm that none planned private museums for their collections. This detail ruled out Indonesian Chinese collector Budi Tek, who has been very active in both auctions and art fairs in recent years, and high-profile Chinese mainland collector couple Wang Wei and Liu Yiqian, whose Dragon Art Museum will open in Shanghai in 2012.  

The major sales offered few surprises, being led by Zeng Fanzhi and rounded out by Liu Ye, Yu Youhan, Sui Jianguo, Ding Yi, Zhou Chunya, Zhang Xiaogang, Liu Xiaodong, and Liu Wei. Established collectors would have found this list reassuring, since it indicates the blue-chip names in Chinese contemporary are holding their value as new players enter the market. Historic early works by other key names in Chinese contemporary such as Wang Guangyi, Gu Dexin, Wang Keping, and Xue Song were also strongly supported. By contrast, some artists who were once considered part of the canon like Geng Jianyi, Li Shan, and Zhan Wang did relatively poorly, with works by all three being bought in.

As for the atmosphere, the second Ullens sale was always destined to be a more muted affair than the huge April auction. Although last night's auction included a number of significant works from the early period of Chinese contemporary art history — the late 1980s to early 1990s — there was nothing from the seminal "China/Avant-Garde" show of 1989, which had formed the core of the first sale. Truly important works were few. As a result, the saleroom was full but not packed, and standing room was discretionary. (In April, on the other hand, the room had been filled with Chinese contemporary art notables from pioneering collector Uli Sigg to Pace Beijing president Leng Lin.

Where there were significant works on offer last night they tended to be modest and experimental, with historical, rather than unchallengeable collector value. That being said the only artist record of the night came from this group — a graffiti work by the so-called "King of Kowloon," Tsang Tsoi Choi (1921-2007), whose "Calligraphy on Utility Box No. 2" (2000) sold for $102,564 against a high estimate of $38,500.

An early graffiti art figure, the King of Kowloon decorating the streets of Hong Kong for some 50 years until his death in 2007. Artistic recognition came quite late with his first official exhibition being held in 1997, but he went on to become the first Hong Kong artist invited to participate in the Venice Biennale, in 2003. Despite this recognition only one of his graffiti works survives on the streets of Hong Kong, on a pillar of the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry pier. The "Utility Box" works offered last night were "re-enactments" that the artist created in 2000 on metal boxes that approximated to the public furniture on which his graffiti works were usually rendered. Both "Utility Box 1" and "2" sold above their high estimate, with the second taking the record.

The works of another late experimental artist, Chen Zhen (1955-2000), fared less well last night, with his landmark installation "Divine Judgment" (1992) being bought in for HK$3.5 million against a low estimate of HK$4 million. His "Uninterrupted Voice," which had taken pride of place in the 2008 Ullens Collection exhibition at the UCCA, meanwhile hammered at $HK1.3 million, just above the low estimate of $HK1.2 million.
On the positive side of the ledger an important early video work by Lin Yilin, “Safely Maneuvering Across Lin He Street” (1995) was hammered for HK$ 280,000, more than twice its high estimate of HK$120,000 and Cui Xiuwen's controversial hidden video work "Lady's" (2000) for HK$150,000 against a high estimate of HK$90,000.

For those seeking further clues about the state of the market, attention now turns to Sotheby's contemporary Asian art sale tonight, where major works from Zhang Xiaogang and Zeng Fanzhi are on offer, and then to Christie's planned "Faces of China" contemporary sale in November. But last night suggests that where quality works are offered, Chinese contemporary art is a market on solid ground, with a broadening international base of collectors.