For the second consecutive year, Christie’s, Phillips, and Sotheby’s aligned their marquee spring auctions in Asia with the week of Art Basel Hong Kong. The strategy clearly worked, with the three houses generating a combined $164.9 million across their modern and contemporary art evening sales. That result marked a significant rebound from last autumn’s $136.3 million — the lowest total in eight years — and also surpassed last spring’s comparable total of $139.9 million.

While gallerists told ARTnews that sales at Art Basel had been measured, the auction market showed robust demand for trophy works from collectors across Asia.