Press Release Hong Kong
For Immediate Release
Hong Kong | Winnie Tang | +852 2822 8129 | winnie.tangsothebys.com
New York | Dan Abernethy | [email protected] | London | Matthew Floris | [email protected]
SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG PRESENTS
FINE CHINESE PAINTINGS SPRING SALE 2014
ON 7 APRIL
Highlighting
Zhang Daqian’s Lotus in the Wind
Property from The Museum Of Modern Art, New York
(Est. HK$5 – 7 million / US$640,000 – 897,000)
- A Signature Splashed-Ink Lotus Work By The Artist From The 1960s -
Gao Qifeng’s Roaring Lion
(Est. HK$1.8 – 2.5 million / US$230,000 – 320,000)
A Representative Work From The Lingnan School of Painting -
Also Featuring Important Private Collections
From North America And Europe
*********
Hong Kong Exhibition: 3 – 6 April 2014
Hong Kong, 18 March 2014
Sotheby’s Hong Kong Fine Chinese Paintings
Spring Sale 2014 will take place on 7 April at the Hong Kong Convention and
Exhibition Centre. Exquisite works by such modern Chinese artists as Zhang
Daqian, Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Fu Baoshi, Xu Beihong and Xie Zhiliu will
be offered, many of which come from private collections in Europe and North
America and are fresh to the market. The sale will feature more than 400 lots
in total, estimated in excess of HK$130 million / US$16.7 million*.
C.K. Cheung, Head of Sotheby's Chinese Paintings Department said: “This
Spring, we continued to leverage on our unrivalled global network to assemble
some of the most outstanding works from important private collections overseas.
Headlining the sale is Zhang Daqian’s Lotus in the Wind from the collection of The
Museum of Modern Art in New York. The painting exemplifies Zhang’s transition
from his freehand style to splashed-ink-and-colour technique and is one of the
artist’s most pivotal lotus-themed works from the 1960s. Regarded by the artist as
an epitome of this genre, the work was on loan to a number of important
exhibitions, including Exhibition of Paintings by Chang Da-Chien at Hirschl &
Adler Galleries in 1963 and Chang Dai-Chien: A Retrospective Exhibition at the
Center of Asian Art and Culture in 1972.”
“Another highlight is Roaring Lion (pictured p1), an exceptional work by Gao Qifeng, one of the founders of
the Lingnan School of Painting. The work once belonged to the private collection of Zhang Kunyi, student of
Gao Qifeng, who brought with her a selection of Gao’s paintings when she left China for the United States
during the Second Sino-Japanese War, with Roaring Lion being the most representative of them all. Also
worthy of note is Landscape in Afterglow, an outstanding splashed-colour masterpiece by Zhang Daqian from
the collection of distinguished Chinese literature scholar Han Nan.”
AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS
Property from The Museum Of Modern Art, New York, Sold to Benefit the Acquisitions Fund
Zhang Daqian (1899 – 1983)
Lotus in the Wind
1961, Ink on Paper, Hanging Scroll, 179.1 x 96.5 cm
Est. HK$5 – 7 million / US$640,000 – 897,000
Lotus in the Wind was a gift from Zhang Daqian to his good friend
Dr Kuo Yu-shou, also known as Guo Zijie, who in turn donated the
work to The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1961. Kuo
studied in France in his early years before returning to China, where
he was offered a key appointment in the Nationalist government,
which placed him in a position to form close ties with the art circle.
Zhang and Kuo, both Sichuanese, became particularly close when
the artist fled to Sichuan during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Following the change of political regime in China, Zhang Daqian
left the country to reside abroad while Kuo stationed at a diplomatic
post in Europe. From the mid-1950s to 1960s, Zhang travelled
extensively in Europe and held exhibitions in a number of countries
with the assistance of Kuo as his agent. The two then became very
close friends. In 1961, Zhang Daqian painted this work during his
sojourn in Japan and presented it as a gift to Kuo Yu-shou when he
stayed at Kuo’s residence in Paris later that year.
Lotus in the Wind is a signature splashed-ink lotus work by Zhang
Daqian from the early 1960s, a period when the artist transformed
from his freehand style to splashed-ink-and-colour technique. The
composition is simple and bold and the brushstrokes are free and unfettered, unveiling a magnanimous breadth of
aesthetic vision. The application of ink in balanced shades, executed in a robust and exuberant manner, reveals the
delicate beauty of nature.
This work was exhibited in 1963 at the Hirschl & Adler Galleries, one the earliest solo exhibitions of Zhang
Daqian in the United States. In 1972, it was again featured at Chang Dai-Chien: A Retrospective Exhibition at
the Centre of Asian Art and Culture in San Francisco. Its appearance in various important exhibitions attests to
its significance in the artist’s oeuvre.
An Important Splash Landscape By Zhang Daqian From The Collection Of Professor Patrick Hanan
Zhang Daqian (1899 – 1983)
Landscape in Afterglow
1968, Splashed Ink and Colour on Paper Mounted on Board, Framed, 95.2 x 58.5 cm
Est. HK$5 – 7 million / US$640,000 – 897,000
Developed in Zhang Daqian’s advanced years when he was suffering
from deteriorating eyesight, the splashed-ink-and-colour technique is a
testimony to the Zhang’s versatility and imagination and unique to works
created in the final years of the artist’s artistic career. Executed in 1968
with
mesmerizing
colour
application,
Landscape
in
Afterglow
exemplifies the artist’s technique in maturity. Heavy coats of pigments in
azurite blue and malachite green are splashed on the scroll repeatedly to
create large, compact rock forms, resulting in a composition aglow with a
gem-like sparkle.
At the top left corner is a slight touch of red,
suggesting the glow of a setting sun. In the foreground, a reclusive
scholar can be seen on a boat in the waning light amidst green foliage
interspersed with red flowers. Landscape in Afterglow is rendered in a
semi-abstract style and Zhang used figurative brushwork to highlight the
scenery in ink. Its melding of traditional and inventive techniques further
reflects the artist’s creativity and his painterly inspiration.
Qi Baishi（1864 – 1957）
An Assemblage of Fruits
Ink and Colour on Paper, Hanging Scroll, 68 x 33.5 cm (each)
Estimate on request
Qi Baishi’s four-panel paintings
were mostly created in the 1920s and
1930s. Judging by its painting style
and inscription, An Assemblage of
Fruits was executed in the late 1930s
or early 1940s. Featured in the work
are four panels, each depicting a
particular type of fruit, including
lychees, grapes, cherries and loquats.
Each panel portrays a basket of fruits and is adorned with the image of a tree branch, replete with leaves and
fruits similar to those in the basket. Instead of appearing identical, all these depictions complement each other,
demonstrating Qi’s meticulous visual judgment. Alternated between the images of lychees and cherries in
seductive red tones on both ends, are the golden-yellow depictions of loquats and the purplish-green portrayals
of grapes. The contrasts and vibrant relationship between colour and ink are reinforced with the varying
degrees of force and speed by which the artist implements his brushstrokes.
Gao Qifeng (1889 – 1933)
Roaring Lion
1927, Ink On Paper, Hanging Scroll, 169.7 x 61 cm
Est. HK$1.8 – 2.5 million / US$230,000 – 320,000
In 1926, Gao Qifeng’s painting of a male lion, which epitomises the
revolutionary spirit of his times, was selected for the collection of the Sun YatSen Memorial Hall. At the request of his students, Gao repainted the subject
in the following year, resulting in this work. Executed in 1927, Roaring Lion
is monumental in scale, focusing on a robust lion which occupies more than
half of the scroll. Ferocious in appearance, the lion is an awesome sight to
behold, its teeth exposed in a growl, its eyes iridescent and its giant paws lifted
in a pounce. The creature looks ready to leap down from a boulder, with a
striking force too mighty to resist. Every part of the lion, from its menacing
look to the tiniest detail of its physique, such as the fur, sharp paws and its
intense glare, are delicately portrayed, either with fine brushwork or colour
washes, to a life-like effect.
In 1939, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Gao’s student Zhang Kunyi
left for the United States bringing with her a fine selection of the artist’s work
to save them from the Japanese troops. The collection included some of the
most representative works from the Lingnan School of Painting and the
present work tops them all in artistic significance.
Work of Xu Beihong from a European Private Collection
Xu Beihong
Horse
1948, Ink and Colour on Paper, Framed, 109 x 53.5 cm
HK$3.5 – 4.5 million / US$449,000 – 577,000
Horse was executed in 1948, but it was only two years later that Xu Beihong
added the recipient’s name and a greeting atop the painting, when it was
intended as a gift for the renowned Czech sinologist Jaroslava Průška. Průška
studied in China during the 1930s and devoted the second half of his life to
education and sinology research.
Extremely knowledgeable in his field, he
commanded high respect in the Czechoslovak academic circle. Xu Beihong
befriended Průška in March 1949, when the artist travelled to Prague as part of
the Chinese delegation to attend the first World Peace Conference where Průška
worked as the interpreter. In the following year, Průška visited China as a
member of a Czech cultural delegation. As president of the Central Academy of
Fine Arts and chairman of the China Artists Association, Xu was the official host to the delegation and this
painting was gifted to his erstwhile friend during the exchange.
Images are available upon request | Press releases and sales information are now available at www.sothebys.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
I) SOTHEBY'S HONG KONG SPRING SALES 2014 CALENDAR (The schedule is subject to change)
Auction
4 Apr
5 Apr
6 Apr
7 Apr
8 Apr
Category
A Magnificent Bordeaux Cellar II
Finest & Rarest Wines Featuring the Collection of Ambassador Ronald Weiser
Finest & Rarest Wines Featuring the Collection of Ambassador Ronald Weiser
Modern and Contemporary Asian Art – Evening Sale
(20th Century Chinese Art, Contemporary Asian Art & Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian
Paintings)
20th Century Chinese Art Day Sale
Contemporary Asian Art Day Sale
Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings Day Sale
Fine Chinese Paintings
Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite
Contemporary Literati – A Gathering
The Meiyintang “Chicken Cup”
Chinese Art Through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō – The Clark Ding
Gods and Beasts – Gilt Bronzes from the Speelman Collection
Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection: Later Bronzes
The Hung Collection – A Selection of Important Chinese Furniture
The Baoyizhai Collection of Chinese Lacquer, Part 1
Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
Important Watches
HONG KONG EXHIBITION AND AUCTION VENUE
Hall 5, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (New Wing), 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
II) ASIA TRAVELLING EXHIBITIONS CALENDAR
Date
City
22 - 23 Mar
Taipei
Venue
Fubon International Convention Centre
III) UPCOMING SELLING EXHIBITION IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH (The schedule is subject to change)
Date
Event
Venue
28 Feb - 21 Mar
The Odyssey of a Master : Chao Chung-hsiang –
Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery
A Selling Exhibition
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