All eyes are on Seoul Auction's first major sale of 2022

“Statue of Venus Obliterated by Infinity Nets”(1998) by Yayoi Kusama [SEOUL AUCTION]

Seoul Auction, the nation’s biggest auction house, will hold its first major sale on Tuesday. The sale is attracting the attention of the market observers who are curious about whether Korea’s art market boom will continue in spite of the recent falls in stock and real estate prices.

A total of 145 pieces, estimated to total 18.8 billion won ($15.78 million), will be offered in the sale which will take place at Seoul Auction Gangnam Center in southern Seoul at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

One of the highlights is “Statue of Venus Obliterated by Infinity Nets”(1998) by Yayoi Kusama, one of the world’s most influential living artists. The work that consists of a sculpture of Venus and a painting filled with dots in Kusama’s signature style is estimated at 4 billion won.

The 92-year-old Japanese artist ranked second on the list of top artists in terms of sales value in the Korean auction market last year. The artist who topped the list was Lee Ufan, one of masters of dansaekhwa, or Korean monochrome painting.

The auction house will also offer six paintings by Lee including the large-size acrylic “From Line”(1982), estimated at 1.5 billion won.

Among the old Korean art pieces put up for auction is a moon jar, or round-shaped white porcelain jar from the Joseon period. The price is estimated at 300 million to 500 million won.

Seoul Auction sold 166.6 billion won worth of artworks, or nearly 80 percent of those offered for sale last year, accounting for 50.6 percent of Korea’s art auction market.

BY MOON SO-YOUNG [moon.soyoung@joongang.co.kr]