A Vincent van Gogh painting displaying the artist’s shift from dark realism to vibrant impressionism sold for US$32.2 million at a Hong Kong auction, falling short of expectations that it would fetch a record-breaking price.

“Les canots amarres” -- or “the moored boats” -- was the centerpiece of an inaugural evening sale held to celebrate the opening of auction house Christie’s new Asia Pacific headquarters. According to Christie’s, it was expected to fetch HK$230-380 million (US$30-50 million) on the auction floor. If bidding had reached the higher end of the estimated value, it could have surpassed Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Warrior” -- which went for HK$323.6 million in 2021 -- as the most expensive Western painting sold in Asia.

But the hammer of auctioneer Adrien Meyer fell Thursday at HK$250 million. Cristian Albu, deputy chairman and head of 20th/21st century art at Christie’s Asia Pacific, said the price was the “record of a Van Gogh in Asia”.

The auction house was “cautious” with its lineup on Thursday in hopes of boosting market confidence, added Ada Tsui, head of evening sale and specialist for 20th/21st century art.

Owned by the Italian royal family of Bourbon Two Sicilies, the Van Gogh painting is “the most important painting by the artist ever to be offered in Asia”, Christie’s said in its introduction.

“’Les canots amarres’ marks a vital stepping stone in his career,” it said.

The painting is one of about 40 works Van Gogh developed around the scenic French town of Asnieres, a boating hub on the outskirts of Paris, during the summer of 1887.

With those paintings, “he left behind for good the dark, earthy tones of his realist pictures of old. He now adopted a vibrant palette and loose expressive brush instead,” said Christie’s.

In a letter to his sister Willemien in October 1887, the artist wrote: “When I painted landscape in Asnieres this summer, I saw more color... than ever before.”

Princess Camilla of the House of Bourbon Two Sicilies called it a painting “of incredible history in the very particular moment of the artist’s (career)”, according to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.

She said she chose the Chinese city for the sale to tap into the Asian market’s “strong and expanding base of collectors who are increasingly interested in Western art”. Born in the Netherlands in 1853, Vincent van Gogh was among the most famous and influential figures in Western art. He created around 2,100 pieces, including about 860 oil paintings, in a career that lasted only a decade before his death in 1890.

Christie’s high-profile auction on Thursday also featured 45 other masterpieces from the 20th and 21st centuries -- ranging from the French impressionist painter Claude Monet to the England-based street artist Banksy. “Nymphéas” by Monet sold at just shy of US$30 million, also near the low end of the estimate. — AFP