Christie’s Unveils New Asia Headquarters
By Annette Meier
View of The Henderson, Christie’s new Asia Pacific headquarters in Central, Hong Kong, 2024. Courtesy Christie’s Images Limited.
On September 20, Christie’s auction house opened its new Asia Pacific headquarters in The Henderson, a recently developed office building in Hong Kong’s Central district. With this opening, Christie’s becomes the third major auction house to expand their footprint in the city, following rivals Phillips and Sotheby’s, the latter of which moved into the Landmark Chater building in July.
Occupying the sixth to ninth floors of the glass skyscraper, which was designed by the leading London-based firm Zaha Hadid Architects, Christie’s new 4,645-square-meter venue demonstrates the auction house’s commitment to strengthen their presence in the region. The lavish location features a salesroom, galleries, a dedicated client hub, offices, and pillar-free floor plan, allowing Christie’s to host year-round sales and exhibitions in-house. There is also an elevator that directly leads to The Henderson’s all-glass rooftop ballroom, where Christie’s plans to host exhibitions and special events.
Compared to its previous Hong Kong office in Alexandra House, Central, where visitors had to ask security guards for a temporary pass to reach the 22nd floor, the new headquarters is easily accessible. However, the design does not translate to accessible prices—rather, Christie’s Asia president Francis Belin stated that the auction house remains committed to showcasing “the best of the best.” Reflecting this exclusivity, Christie’s will host its first sales of 20th and 21st Century Art from September 26 to 27, including works by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Chinese French painter Zao Wou-Ki.
The auctions are highly anticipated and will reveal more about the current interest for Western art in Asia, especially amid waning profits in the Chinese market. In the first half of 2024, Christie’s reported USD 2.1 billion in sales, marking the second consecutive year of decline after its 2022 peak of USD 4.1 billion. The relocation also comes during a slump in Hong Kong’s commercial property market: according to Bloomberg, as of May 2024, The Henderson—which was built on the world’s most expensive plot of land—was nearly half vacant.
Nevertheless, Belin remains confident that the second half of this year will see “a very nice pickup in our numbers,” citing a “very strong demand” from Asia as younger collectors emerge. He also revealed that Christie’s signed a ten-year lease at its prestigious new venue, slashed its operating costs, and, he added, that Hong Kong remains the “best place to transact art . . . It’s a free flow of capital, free flow of merchandise, free flow of people.”
As other auction houses are struggling to make returns on their investments in Hong Kong and the global art market remains stagnant, Christie’s inaugural sales may just bring about a change in the tide.
Annette Meier is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.
