Replica of Hong Kong Phooey mural expected to fetch HK$1.5 million at auction

A piece of street art destroyed by Hong Kong authorities has been remade and is expected to fetch more than HK$1.5 million (£127,000, US$192,000) at a Sotheby's auction next week. It comes as experts say the demand for "cutting edge" art is growing across the Asian market with new, younger collectors emerging. The ceramic mosaic of 1970s American cartoon character Hong Kong Phooey, a mask-wearing dog who is an expert in kung fu, was created by French street artist Invader.

It first went up on a wall in a quiet street of Hong Kong's upmarket Happy Valley neighborhood last January. But the artwork, which measures 1.3 meters x 2.1 meters was taken down within weeks by Hong Kong authorities, sparking outrage from residents. Now the artist has recreated the mosaic, which has the character performing his signature flying kick, and it is expected to be the highlight of Tuesday's auction. It will be sold alongside the first ever work to be auctioned in Hong Kong by British artist Tracey Emin, a turquoise neon sign that reads "Trust Me", expected to fetch up to HK$350,000 (£30,000, $45,000).
"There are some very important collectors acquiring Monet and Van Gogh, but there's also a deep pool of new collectors trying to acquire more cutting edge pieces," Isaure de Viel Castel, Sotheby's head of mid-season sales for contemporary and modern fine arts, said. Artists such as Invader are responding to this challenge by making replicas of their works so collectors can take them home, she said. "We're reaching out to new collectors here, people in their 30s or 40s who are very international."
Hong Kong has emerged as one of the world's major auction hubs in art and wine thanks to cash-rich mainland Chinese buyers with an appetite for luxury items. But the city authorities are also frequently criticized for failing to preserve Hong Kong's cultural heritage, with the rapid pace of development leading to the demolition of historic buildings, and iconic graffiti scrubbed from walls. Invader expressed deep disappointment after his art was taken down. "I have never faced a situation where a public authority would systematically and rapidly remove the art from the streets," the artist said in February of last year.