Kim Whan-ki's painting breaks S. Korean sale record at 6.55 bln won

HONG KONG, Nov. 27 (Yonhap) -- A painting by Korean abstract artist Kim Whan-ki has been sold for 6.55 billion won (US$5.74 million) on Wednesday, making it the most expensive South Korean artwork ever sold.

At an auction held in Seoul, Kim's blue-dotted painting named "Tranquility 5-IV-73 #310" broke the previous record of 6.32 billion won set by the very same artist during an auction held in Hong Kong last November with the painting named "12-V-70 #172."

The auction for the 205-by-261-centimeter painting started at 5.5 billion won, but the price quickly escalated and reached well over 6 billion won and finally settled at 6.55 billion won.

Kim's artworks have now broken the sales record three times in a one-year period, starting with his painting named "Untitled" that was sold for 4.86 billion won last April.

kdon@yna.co.kr
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