Lee Man Fong’s seminal work Bali Life commanded US$3.24 million at today’s Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring Sale, setting a world record for a Southeast Asian Painting at auction. Bidding for Bali Life opened at HK$4 million and the heated competition continued for a tension-filled ten minutes. After a total of 31 furious bids, Bali Life eventually sold to an Asian collector over the telephone, more than tripling the previous record for the artist. Bali Life is the only known piece in Lee’s acclaimed Balinese series executed on canvas as opposed to masonite board, rendering it even rarer. Executed circa the 1960s, the apex of the artist’s career, Bali Life succeeds in revealing Lee’s sophisticated handling of the subject and exemplifies his mastery of the technique. The entire Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings Spring Sale 2010 totalled US$8.88 million. The sale was characterised by several determined and protracted bidding battles for prized lots including Ronald Ventura's Rebel's Optics, which soared above its high estimate to achieve $202,564; I Nyoman Masriadi's I'm Still Lucky, sold for $633,333.
