Kim Whanki's 1971 painting *19-VI-71 #206* sold for USD 8.4 million (USD 10.295 million with buyer's premium) at Christie's New York '20th Century Evening Sale' on November 17, 2025. The work, a large-scale dot painting from the artist's peak period, achieved the second-highest auction price ever recorded for Korean modern art, falling short of the record held by his *Universe 05-IV-71 #200* but marking the first time a Korean artwork entered and succeeded in a Christie's New York main-market evening sale.
This sale matters because it signals Korean abstract art's growing competitiveness in the global art market's center, New York. By being included alongside canonical 20th-century masters in a premier evening sale, Kim Whanki's work elevates the international visibility of Korean modern art and is expected to intensify global interest in Korean abstraction and postwar artists. The result underscores a re-evaluation of Korean art at the core of the art trade.