The stage was set for a triumphant crescendo. Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips—those titans of the secondary market—marched into Hong Kong this September with synchronized fall sales, hoping to create a symphony of bidding to rival New York’s May or London’s June. For the first time, the city boasted what could be called a true “auction season,” wedged neatly between Frieze Seoul and the Shanghai fairs.

But instead of a roaring fanfare, the sales delivered something quieter: a careful clearing of throats, punctuated by moments of brilliance and an undercurrent of caution. The numbers did not dazzle. Even Picasso and Nara, perennial stars of the evening, could not mask the thinning atmosphere of a global market cooling after its pandemic fever.

Christie’s: Picasso Rules the Night

Christie’s secured the headline of the season with Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme (1944), a wartime portrait of Dora Maar, which hammered at HK$167 million ($21.5 million) and set a new auction record for the Spanish master in Asia. The final price with fees reached HK$196.8 million ($25.4 million)—a momentary lightning strike in a muted sky.

Zao Wou-Ki added lyrical heft with an abstract landscape fetching HK$85 million ($11 million, including fees). Yet, overall sales sagged: HK$565.6 million ($73 million), down from HK$1.04 billion ($134 million) in the equivalent sale last year. The sell-through rate was strong at 92 percent, but the mood was one of diminished expectation rather than triumphant conquest.

Phillips: Early Bids, Slim Margins

Phillips leaned into innovation, offering “priority bidding”—a buyer’s-premium discount for those who placed bids 48 hours before the sale. Half the lots took this bait, signaling how collectors now strategize in a climate of uncertainty.

The house’s star was Yoshitomo Nara’s Pinky (2000), which sold for HK$56.66 million ($7.3 million). But total sales landed at HK$159.96 million ($20.56 million), below last year’s HK$171.14 million. The auction held a perfect 100 percent sell-through rate after withdrawals, yet the sums whispered rather than thundered.

Sotheby’s: Nara and New Voices

Sotheby’s also crowned a Nara canvas, Can’t Wait ’til the Night Comes (2012), selling to an Asian bidder for HK$79.9 million ($10.3 million). Beyond Nara, the house produced genuine sparks: a new record for Li Hei Di, the young London-based Chinese painter, now Pace Gallery’s rising star. This was a clear nod to generational shifts shaping the Asian market.

The house also welcomed a wave of fresh blood: nearly 20 percent of buyers were new, with collectors from Greater China and Singapore showing increasing appetite. Still, the totals were modest—HK$335.7 million ($43 million), down from last year’s HK$409.5 million.

A Market Catching Its Breath

One can sense the Hong Kong sales as both an assertion and a hesitation. The assertion: Asia now has its own marquee auction season, no longer a satellite to Western capitals. The hesitation: collectors, though present, are cautious; guarantees cushion risk, and innovation like Phillips’ “priority bidding” reveals houses eager to grease the gears.

Yet amid the tempered numbers, there is poetry. Picasso still commands thunderbolts, Nara still charms with melancholic children, and Li Hei Di’s record hints at the future—young, hybrid, global. The market may be cooling, but the tectonic plates continue to shift beneath Hong Kong’s harbor.