HONG KONG (AFP) - A monumental work by British artist Damien Hirst fetched more than 17.22 million Hong Kong dollars (S$3.12 million) in an auction held Wednesday, making it his most expensive art piece sold in Asia.

"The Importance of Elsewhere -- The Kingdom of Heaven", the highlight of Seoul Auction's autumn sales in Hong Kong, went under the hammer to an absentee bidder after attracting only two bids.

Measuring 2.9 metres (9.5 feet) tall and 2.4 metres wide, Hirst's piece features thousands of colourful butterflies that he bred himself and is a reflection on life, death and God.

Although the price fell short of the estimate of 18 million dollars, the South Korean auction house said it was satisfied with the result as the price was the highest fetched for Hirst's works in the region.

"It's a tough market, under the current economic climate. Buyers now want quality pieces at a good price. I am happy enough to see that the top pieces have attracted enough interest," Misung Shim, managing director of Seoul Auction, told AFP.

Shim said the auction house, which aims to rival global houses Sotheby's and Christie's in the Hong Kong market, would be more selective in its choice of pieces in their future sales.

The piece broke the record set by "Tranquility", another piece from Hirst's "Butterfly series," sold by Seoul Auction for 13.37 million Hong Kong dollars in May.

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