On a Saturday in early April at Sotheby's Hong Kong auction house, two people stood next to the auctioneer near the podium, holding a wide painting six feet in length. It was part of the Bali Life series by Indonesia's Lee Man Fong.

As the gavel was sounded, the painting sold for HK$21.4 million, equivalent to US$2.7 million, or Rp30.7 billion. That was five times its pre-sale estimate of HK$4.5 million. The work made a large contribution to the a