Eric Chang (張丁元)
Chairman
Based in Hong Kong, Eric Chang is Deputy Chairman of Christie's Asia and Chairman of Modern and Contemporary Art, Asia Pacific. Since joining Christie’s in 2001, Eric has been the driving force in helping Asian art to gain international recognition.
Under Eric’s leadership, Christie’s Hong Kong pioneered a sale entirely devoted to Asian contemporary art in 2004. In May 2008, the first-ever Evening Sale of Asian 20th Century & Contemporary Art was introduced to the sale calendar in Hong Kong.
The category was further expanded when Southeast Asian art was integrated into the sale in 2011, with masterpieces placed alongside those from China, Japan and Korean artists. This integration – a first for any international auction house – completed the consolidation of contemporary and modern art from different regions of Asia to create a pan-Asian category that paralleled its Western counterpart.
In autumn 2016, Eric introduced The Pioneers, a meticulously curated sale of works by Asian avant-garde masters in November 2016. He drew in record prices for Sanyu’s Chrysanthèmes dans un vase en verre (Chrysanthemums in a glass vase), which realised HK$103.5 million/US$13.4 million, setting the world record for the artist’s floral still life, and Chu Teh-Chun’s Vertige Neigeux (Snowy Vertigo), which achieved a world record of HK$91.8 million/US$11.8 million for the artist.
In spring 2017, Eric introduced Contemporaries: Voices from the East and West , challenging the traditional evening sale concept, by converging works from Western Post-war and Contemporary as well as Asian 20th century and Contemporary artists. In the same sale he helped set a new world record for Zao Wou-Ki, which was once again broken in Christie’s autumn sale of the same year, when 29.01.64 achieved HK$202.6 million/US$26 million. As of November 2017, Eric has led the department to achieve a total of over 140 world auction records for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian artists.
Born in Taiwan, Eric worked at Dimension Art Gallery and New Age Art Gallery prior to joining Christie’s and has more than 25 years of experience in the field of Asian art. He travels extensively to source for auctions and private sales, as well as introducing artworks to prospective buyers all around the world. Eric speaks fluent Mandarin and English.