Asia Pacific Modern and Contemporary Art

Based in Hong Kong, Cristian Albu is Deputy Chairman, Head of 20th and 21st Century Art at Christie’s Asia Pacific. Cristian manages sales and operations for the category in Asia and is instrumental in furthering the presentation of Western contemporary art at Christie’s in the region.

Since Cristian joined Christie’s, the 20th and 21st Century Art category has attained historic results in two consecutive years – achieving US$550 million in 2021, the highest annual total for the category at Christie’s Asia, and US$402 million in 2022, the second highest. Cristian was a key figure in the sales of Pablo Picasso’s Buste d’homme dans un cadre from the Estate of Sir Sean Connery, which sold for HK$175 million / US$22 million in May 2022, becoming the second most expensive work by Picasso sold at an auction house in Asia; Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild 747-1, which realised HK$140 million / US$18 million in December 2021; and Adrian Ghenie’s Pie Fight Interior 12 in May 2022, which fetched HK$81 million / US$10 million, setting a new world record for the artist.

Cristian's curatorial direction and network have been pivotal to some of Christie's most acclaimed, museum-quality exhibitions. These include 'Flesh and Soul: Bacon/Ghenie' in 2022, the world’s first joint exhibition of the two iconic artists Francis Bacon and Adrian Ghenie in Hong Kong and Seoul; and 'Heads On: Basquiat & Warhol', the first joint exhibition of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol in Seoul in over three decades, hosted by Christie's and Hyundai Card during Frieze Seoul in 2023.

Prior to joining the team in Hong Kong in 2020, Cristian began his career at Christie’s in London in 2012, where he played a major part in 10 highly successful auction seasons. Cristian curated the renowned private and museum loan exhibitions ‘Reflections on the Self’ (2015), ‘About the Line: An Exhibition Exploring the Power of the Line in 20th and 21st Century Art’ (2017), and ‘Sacred Noise’ (2018). He contributed significantly to the 2016 Defining British Art Evening Sale, which resulted in numerous world records. He also headed Christie’s October Evening sale in London in 2016, which doubled its low estimate and established new world records for eight artists.

Cristian graduated with a First Class Degree from Lower Danube University with a BA in International Economic Relations. He went on to complete a Master’s degree in Art Business at the Sotheby’s Institute in London, where he wrote his dissertation on Eastern European Modern and Contemporary Art.

Based in Hong Kong, Jacky Ho is Deputy Head of the 20th and 21st Century Art Department at Christie’s Asia Pacific and is responsible for Christie’s specialist teams based across Greater China. With over 15 years of experience in the auction industry, Jacky has expertise across Asian and Western 20th and 21st century art and an extensive collector network.

Jacky has successfully orchestrated a series of phenomenal sales at Christie’s Hong Kong, many of which have set world auction records for both modern and contemporary artists. Under his leadership, the department sold Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Warrior for HK$323.6 million / US$41.9 million in 2021, which remains the most valuable Western artwork ever sold at auction in Asia. Jacky played an integral part in the historic annual auction totals attained by the department in two consecutive years – US$550 million in 2021, the highest at Christie’s Asia, and US$402 million in 2022, the second highest.

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.

Based in Hong Kong, Ada Tsui is Head of Evening Sale and Specialist for the 20th and 21st Century Art Department at Christie's Asia Pacific. In this role, Ada leads on business-getting, market analysis, exhibition planning and cultivating relationships with collectors in the region for the 20th and 21st Century Art Evening Sales.

Under Ada’s headship, Christie’s 20th and 21st Century Evening Sales in Hong Kong present a diverse offering of exceptional art from the East and the West, by both established and emerging artists. Ada previously headed the 20th and 21st Century Art Day Sales in Hong Kong, achieving numerous artist world auction records. In 2021, with Ada at the helm, the Day Sales realised HK$910.8 million / US$117 million, the highest annual total at Christie’s in Asia.

Ada received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and Comparative Literature at The University of Hong Kong.

Based in Hong Kong, Emmanuelle Chan is Head of Day and Online Sales and Specialist for the 20th and 21st Century Art Department at Christie's Asia Pacific.

Before heading the Day Sales, Emmanuelle led what became the most valuable online sale at the time across all categories in Asia, as well as the first white-glove Contemporary art online sale in Asia, both in 2020. Under her leadership, the curation of the 20th Century Art Day sale has grown to include many more Western artists, including a single-artist sale dedicated to Marc Chagall which achieved HK$74.4 million / US$9.5 million and was 100% sold.

Prior to joining Christie’s in Hong Kong, Emmanuelle was based at Christie’s in Paris where her focus was on sourcing Modern and Contemporary works of art from European collections for auction in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Emmanuelle graduated from the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne with a double degree in Law and Art History, an MA in Art Market and a research MA in Art History, with a thesis on Chinese-born French artist Zao Wou-Ki. She also holds a BA in Chinese language and civilization from INALCO, Paris. Emmanuelle is fluent in English, French and Mandarin Chinese.