Chinese art 1900-1980
1922 SINO-JAPANESE DECORATIVE ART
2012 SOLD 70 MHK$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The war had led the Japanese on the mainland: they hoped to conquer or at least to dominate China. In 1922, theChinese political situation is so dilapidated that the Japanese do not need any more their demonstrations of strength.They wait, and get interested in art.
Qi Baishi, who was to become one of the outstanding artists of the twentieth century, was already at the top of hisartistic and technical abilities. A pair of screens estimated HK $ 15M, for sale on April 3 by Sotheby's in Hong Kong, demonstrates both his skills and the eclecticism of his inspiration.
These are two large gold screens 148 x 132 cm, each of them being folded by the middle. The art of the screen istypically Japanese. This pair had been commissioned by a Japanese lieutenant general and was immediately shipped toJapan.
The two topics have nothing in common: a river landscape with willows, in black ink; begonias, in ink and colors.However, their decorative balance is so successful that they should not be separated. This is a superb example ofcombined Chinese and Japanese harmonies in the early years of the Republic of China. Here is the link to the catalog.
Push further west: it was the time of Dunand's lacquered panels. Was he aware of the art of Qi?
POST SALE COMMENT
These top class screens demonstrate the sort of art that China was still able to generate during one ofthe darkest periods in its history, with an unexpected link with the traditions of Japan and with the European decorative avant-garde. And they are signed by Qi Baishi!
This lot has earned HK $ 70M including premium, about four times its lower estimate.
The war had led the Japanese on the mainland: they hoped to conquer or at least to dominate China. In 1922, theChinese political situation is so dilapidated that the Japanese do not need any more their demonstrations of strength.They wait, and get interested in art.
Qi Baishi, who was to become one of the outstanding artists of the twentieth century, was already at the top of hisartistic and technical abilities. A pair of screens estimated HK $ 15M, for sale on April 3 by Sotheby's in Hong Kong, demonstrates both his skills and the eclecticism of his inspiration.
These are two large gold screens 148 x 132 cm, each of them being folded by the middle. The art of the screen istypically Japanese. This pair had been commissioned by a Japanese lieutenant general and was immediately shipped toJapan.
The two topics have nothing in common: a river landscape with willows, in black ink; begonias, in ink and colors.However, their decorative balance is so successful that they should not be separated. This is a superb example ofcombined Chinese and Japanese harmonies in the early years of the Republic of China. Here is the link to the catalog.
Push further west: it was the time of Dunand's lacquered panels. Was he aware of the art of Qi?
POST SALE COMMENT
These top class screens demonstrate the sort of art that China was still able to generate during one ofthe darkest periods in its history, with an unexpected link with the traditions of Japan and with the European decorative avant-garde. And they are signed by Qi Baishi!
This lot has earned HK $ 70M including premium, about four times its lower estimate.
1922 THE DRAGON PRESENTED TO CAO KUN
2012 SOLD 13 MHK$ INCLUDING PREMIUM
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Self-taught, Qi Baishi reaches the maturity of his art around 1920, more than fifty years old.
China was torn by the warlords. Qi executed several artworks for General Cao Kun. On April 3 in Hong Kong,Sotheby's sells a hanging scroll, 136 x 68 cm, dated 1922 and dedicated to Cao by Qi, estimated HK $ 12M.
To honor Cao, Qi displays a dragon, this legendary animal that had no reason to survive after the fall of the Qing empire. Like in an apotheosis, it is floating in the clouds. Its head is human, perhaps a nice caricature of Cao. Here is the link to the catalog.
The work is signed Qi Huang, a pseudonym of Qi Baishi. Interestingly, at the very time when the artist breaks new grounds in terms of colors, this ink on paper is black and white. It is a remarkable example of the versatility and humor of one of the outstanding painters of the twentieth century in China.
Qi was right: Cao was powerful. The following year he caught the supreme power, but his corrupt regime lasted only one year.
For three decades, Qi continued to expand his bestiary as a tribute to the most powerful generals. His branched eagles and his tigers that reflect the vicissitudes of Chinese politics are particularly popular among collectors and patriots.
POST SALE COMMENT
This artwork is certainly a curiosity, but it was signed by the earliest major Chinese artist of modern times. It was sold HK $ 13M including premium.
Self-taught, Qi Baishi reaches the maturity of his art around 1920, more than fifty years old.
China was torn by the warlords. Qi executed several artworks for General Cao Kun. On April 3 in Hong Kong,Sotheby's sells a hanging scroll, 136 x 68 cm, dated 1922 and dedicated to Cao by Qi, estimated HK $ 12M.
To honor Cao, Qi displays a dragon, this legendary animal that had no reason to survive after the fall of the Qing empire. Like in an apotheosis, it is floating in the clouds. Its head is human, perhaps a nice caricature of Cao. Here is the link to the catalog.
The work is signed Qi Huang, a pseudonym of Qi Baishi. Interestingly, at the very time when the artist breaks new grounds in terms of colors, this ink on paper is black and white. It is a remarkable example of the versatility and humor of one of the outstanding painters of the twentieth century in China.
Qi was right: Cao was powerful. The following year he caught the supreme power, but his corrupt regime lasted only one year.
For three decades, Qi continued to expand his bestiary as a tribute to the most powerful generals. His branched eagles and his tigers that reflect the vicissitudes of Chinese politics are particularly popular among collectors and patriots.
POST SALE COMMENT
This artwork is certainly a curiosity, but it was signed by the earliest major Chinese artist of modern times. It was sold HK $ 13M including premium.
1937 tropical post-impressionism by chen cheng-po
2014 unsold
Chen Cheng-Po was the first modern painter of Taiwan. His artistic education in Japan and Shanghai introduced him to both the traditional Chinese art and the contemporary trends in European art.
He contributes to the creation of the Juelan group that promotes a synthesis of European techniques and Asian sensibility while freeing art from religion and literature. Chen is thus one of the first Asian artists to systematically practice the oil on canvas. His personal style is a post-Impressionism influenced by the colors of Fauvism.
Chen came back in 1933 in his hometown of Chia-Yi. A sunset at Danshui 92 x 117 cm painted in 1935 was sold for HK $ 51M including premium at Christie's on November 25, 2007.
Influenced by the art of Bada Shanren of the early Qing, Chen rediscovered the solutions of Impressionism favoring the spontaneity of the brush instead of the drawing. The lush tropical vegetation of Chia-Yi Park is one of his most successful themes. An oil on canvas 61 x 73 cm painted in 1937 is for sale on October 5 by Sotheby's in Hong Kong, lot 1007.
Chen Cheng-Po was a lifelong activist. He will be shot by the Kuomintang in 1947.
He contributes to the creation of the Juelan group that promotes a synthesis of European techniques and Asian sensibility while freeing art from religion and literature. Chen is thus one of the first Asian artists to systematically practice the oil on canvas. His personal style is a post-Impressionism influenced by the colors of Fauvism.
Chen came back in 1933 in his hometown of Chia-Yi. A sunset at Danshui 92 x 117 cm painted in 1935 was sold for HK $ 51M including premium at Christie's on November 25, 2007.
Influenced by the art of Bada Shanren of the early Qing, Chen rediscovered the solutions of Impressionism favoring the spontaneity of the brush instead of the drawing. The lush tropical vegetation of Chia-Yi Park is one of his most successful themes. An oil on canvas 61 x 73 cm painted in 1937 is for sale on October 5 by Sotheby's in Hong Kong, lot 1007.
Chen Cheng-Po was a lifelong activist. He will be shot by the Kuomintang in 1947.
1943 Xu Beihong draws the Lion
2008 SOLD 5.3 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The heartfelt lot of the week goes to a roaring lion, a work on paper by Xu Beihong for sale in Hong Kong at Sotheby's on October 6. This work in ink and color is estimated 2.2 MHK$.
I knew from Xu some beautiful drawings of dashing horses, in an astonishing dynamic style. The active nature of the animal, enhanced by sharp and sinuous lines, is dominant. Xu was one of the best drawers of the last century. He is probably still under-rated compared to his talent.
Our lion, seen from behind, perched, mouth wide open to the left, symbolizes the defense of China against Japanese occupation, Sotheby's said in its press release. It was designed in 1943, a critical year of World War II in the Far East.
In the archives of Sotheby's, I noted four results (including fees).
On 24 October 2005, a group of three horses was sold 5.2 MHK$.
On 6 October 2007, an eagle in flight was sold 2.5 MHK$.
On 9 April 2007, a jumping horse, tail in the wind, was sold 2.5 MHK$.
On 7 October 2006, an album of twelve sheets showing animals of the zodiac was sold 5.5 MHK$.
POST SALE COMMENT
It is a pleasure when a favorite item is confirmed by the market.
With 5.3 MHK$ including costs, this nice drawing of a lion doubled its estimate and won one of the best prices obtained for a drawing of Xu Beihong.
The heartfelt lot of the week goes to a roaring lion, a work on paper by Xu Beihong for sale in Hong Kong at Sotheby's on October 6. This work in ink and color is estimated 2.2 MHK$.
I knew from Xu some beautiful drawings of dashing horses, in an astonishing dynamic style. The active nature of the animal, enhanced by sharp and sinuous lines, is dominant. Xu was one of the best drawers of the last century. He is probably still under-rated compared to his talent.
Our lion, seen from behind, perched, mouth wide open to the left, symbolizes the defense of China against Japanese occupation, Sotheby's said in its press release. It was designed in 1943, a critical year of World War II in the Far East.
In the archives of Sotheby's, I noted four results (including fees).
On 24 October 2005, a group of three horses was sold 5.2 MHK$.
On 6 October 2007, an eagle in flight was sold 2.5 MHK$.
On 9 April 2007, a jumping horse, tail in the wind, was sold 2.5 MHK$.
On 7 October 2006, an album of twelve sheets showing animals of the zodiac was sold 5.5 MHK$.
POST SALE COMMENT
It is a pleasure when a favorite item is confirmed by the market.
With 5.3 MHK$ including costs, this nice drawing of a lion doubled its estimate and won one of the best prices obtained for a drawing of Xu Beihong.
1943 two years and a half in dunhuang grottoes
2014 unsold
The Gobi desert was a major ordeal in the Silk Road. The city of Dunhuang was developed under the Han to offer the rest for travelers coming from the desert and courage and goods to those who were to enter it.
This particular situation has generated a very strong Buddhist spirituality. For a millennium, from the Wei to the Yuan, pilgrims have dug shrines into the cliff to worship Buddhism. 492 man-made caves have been counted, some of them no larger than a coffin. Away from the civilization centers, quite in the middle of the vast Asia, Dunhuang offers the most extraordinary testimony of ancient Buddhist sculpture and painting.
In modern times, Zhang Daqian permeates his art with the best Yuan, Ming and Qing pictorial traditions. This attitude will be vilified by Western observers after the second world war. Yet it fits perfectly in the spirit of continuity that governs the Chinese art for three millennia.
In 1941, Zhang decides to spend a few months studying the paintings of Dunhuang. Overwhelmed by the quality of the art of the ancients, he stayed two years and seven months. He copied therein on paper or silk 279 frescoes, on the site despite difficult climatic conditions.
In Dunhuang, Tang paintings are wonderful. Zhang admires the variety of the psychological expression attributed to the different personalities of the Buddhist pantheon, necessary to offer to the pious travelers all the subtlety of the message.
A copy made in 1943 by Zhang of a Tang Avalokiteshvara is for sale by Sotheby's in New York on September 18. This hanging scroll 128 x 66 cm in ink and colors on paper is estimated $ 2.6M, lot 967.
This particular situation has generated a very strong Buddhist spirituality. For a millennium, from the Wei to the Yuan, pilgrims have dug shrines into the cliff to worship Buddhism. 492 man-made caves have been counted, some of them no larger than a coffin. Away from the civilization centers, quite in the middle of the vast Asia, Dunhuang offers the most extraordinary testimony of ancient Buddhist sculpture and painting.
In modern times, Zhang Daqian permeates his art with the best Yuan, Ming and Qing pictorial traditions. This attitude will be vilified by Western observers after the second world war. Yet it fits perfectly in the spirit of continuity that governs the Chinese art for three millennia.
In 1941, Zhang decides to spend a few months studying the paintings of Dunhuang. Overwhelmed by the quality of the art of the ancients, he stayed two years and seven months. He copied therein on paper or silk 279 frescoes, on the site despite difficult climatic conditions.
In Dunhuang, Tang paintings are wonderful. Zhang admires the variety of the psychological expression attributed to the different personalities of the Buddhist pantheon, necessary to offer to the pious travelers all the subtlety of the message.
A copy made in 1943 by Zhang of a Tang Avalokiteshvara is for sale by Sotheby's in New York on September 18. This hanging scroll 128 x 66 cm in ink and colors on paper is estimated $ 2.6M, lot 967.
1950 The Abstract Poem of Zao Wou-Ki
2016 SOLD for HK$ 70M including premium
The family of Zao Wou-Ki owned an artwork by Mi Fu, the outstanding artist of Song time who was so skillfully blending landscape and calligraphy. The boy considered early that painting and poetry must meet in a unique art.
In making his art studies in Hangzhou, Zao learns oil painting with Lin Fengmian. Arriving in Paris in 1948, he discovers abstract art. He is also inspired by the research of Henri Michaux on the abstraction of the calligraphic message.
For Zao, the color is a kind of theater stage on which he will write his poems on the hidden meaning of the universe. Figuration (boats, birds or the Moon) is drifting into a pseudo-calligraphy that makes it increasingly indecipherable.
In 1950 some oils on canvas by Zao are dominated by pure green that is mingled with more complex hues such as blue-green or yellow-brown. These colors express his vision of the world at that time. Green will soon cease to be an essential element of his palette.
On May 28 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells an oil on canvas "Vert émeraude" 127 x 127 cm, lot 24. The delicate balance of the masses may evoke day and night.
The trend of the artist toward an expressionist abstraction is already taken with fully filled surfaces as in Pollock, the absence of structural lines as in Still, an unreadable message announcing Gaitonde and a subtlety in color mixing which prefigures Richter.
In making his art studies in Hangzhou, Zao learns oil painting with Lin Fengmian. Arriving in Paris in 1948, he discovers abstract art. He is also inspired by the research of Henri Michaux on the abstraction of the calligraphic message.
For Zao, the color is a kind of theater stage on which he will write his poems on the hidden meaning of the universe. Figuration (boats, birds or the Moon) is drifting into a pseudo-calligraphy that makes it increasingly indecipherable.
In 1950 some oils on canvas by Zao are dominated by pure green that is mingled with more complex hues such as blue-green or yellow-brown. These colors express his vision of the world at that time. Green will soon cease to be an essential element of his palette.
On May 28 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells an oil on canvas "Vert émeraude" 127 x 127 cm, lot 24. The delicate balance of the masses may evoke day and night.
The trend of the artist toward an expressionist abstraction is already taken with fully filled surfaces as in Pollock, the absence of structural lines as in Still, an unreadable message announcing Gaitonde and a subtlety in color mixing which prefigures Richter.
1950 The Tiger of the Chinese General
2010 SOLD 32 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The year 1950 of our calendar was in China the year of the Tiger. Qi Baishi, the old man of Chinese painting, had not been particularly interested in this animal before.
In China as elsewhere, artists and intellectuals maintained relationships with powerful patrons. Therefore Qi painted a picture of a tiger to decorate the living room of his friend General Yang Hu (the "Tiger" Yang), a former official in the regime of Yuan Shikai.
The animal, lying horizontally on his four legs, turns his back to the viewer. His fur and his stripes are very finely drawn. The undulating tail extends the flexibility of the body. As a supreme tribute to the old military, the neck of the tiger is powerful. The fine hairs of his whiskers also give an expressive presence in this great cat whose face is not visible.
For Westerners, Sotheby's did not publish the estimate in its press release, but a short visit to the website of New Tang Dynasty Television was sufficient to find that this lot could fetch U.S. $ 3.6 million. The sale takes place in Hong Kong on April 6.
POST SALE COMMENT
The information found on a Chinese website was right on target. Here is the result: HK $ 32 million including premium. A great price for an artwork on paper.
Here are the dimensions: 69 x 138 cm.
The year 1950 of our calendar was in China the year of the Tiger. Qi Baishi, the old man of Chinese painting, had not been particularly interested in this animal before.
In China as elsewhere, artists and intellectuals maintained relationships with powerful patrons. Therefore Qi painted a picture of a tiger to decorate the living room of his friend General Yang Hu (the "Tiger" Yang), a former official in the regime of Yuan Shikai.
The animal, lying horizontally on his four legs, turns his back to the viewer. His fur and his stripes are very finely drawn. The undulating tail extends the flexibility of the body. As a supreme tribute to the old military, the neck of the tiger is powerful. The fine hairs of his whiskers also give an expressive presence in this great cat whose face is not visible.
For Westerners, Sotheby's did not publish the estimate in its press release, but a short visit to the website of New Tang Dynasty Television was sufficient to find that this lot could fetch U.S. $ 3.6 million. The sale takes place in Hong Kong on April 6.
POST SALE COMMENT
The information found on a Chinese website was right on target. Here is the result: HK $ 32 million including premium. A great price for an artwork on paper.
Here are the dimensions: 69 x 138 cm.
1951 Monuments of Europe by Zao Wou-KI
2018 unsold
Coming from Shanghai, Zao Wou-Ki arrived in Paris with his wife Lan-Lan in 1948. He had attended Lin Fengmian's teachings in Hangzhou and feels that his artistic maturity will develop in Europe. He rushes to visit the Louvre.
Art in France is no longer the prerogative of the Impressionists nor of Picasso and Matisse. Welcomed by the young artists of his generation, he has a desire of knowledge and gets wondered with the lithography and the Gothic cathedrals.
Learning from his new friends that abstraction must provide a non-figurative impression of nature, he makes his first abstract paintings by mixing various shades of green and adding unintelligible signs that demonstrate his mastery of Chinese calligraphy.
Zao develops in 1951 a new style of paintings that must be easy to transpose in engraving. The figurative view is central, composed of incised patterns of thin lines in a predominantly monochrome or two-colored abstract background. This gradual disappearance of the border between figurative and abstract may have been influenced by Vieira da Silva.
He wants to express in its entirety this Europe that he tours intensively and most of his drawings of monuments are typical of their styles without being localized.
A varied alignment in a golden surrounding, untitled oil on canvas 89 x 116 cm dated 1951, will be sold by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 24, lot 25. Painted in 1951-1952 in the same style, a cathedral side resembling Notre Dame de Paris, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for HK $ 41.5M including premium by Christie's on November 28, 2015.
Art in France is no longer the prerogative of the Impressionists nor of Picasso and Matisse. Welcomed by the young artists of his generation, he has a desire of knowledge and gets wondered with the lithography and the Gothic cathedrals.
Learning from his new friends that abstraction must provide a non-figurative impression of nature, he makes his first abstract paintings by mixing various shades of green and adding unintelligible signs that demonstrate his mastery of Chinese calligraphy.
Zao develops in 1951 a new style of paintings that must be easy to transpose in engraving. The figurative view is central, composed of incised patterns of thin lines in a predominantly monochrome or two-colored abstract background. This gradual disappearance of the border between figurative and abstract may have been influenced by Vieira da Silva.
He wants to express in its entirety this Europe that he tours intensively and most of his drawings of monuments are typical of their styles without being localized.
A varied alignment in a golden surrounding, untitled oil on canvas 89 x 116 cm dated 1951, will be sold by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 24, lot 25. Painted in 1951-1952 in the same style, a cathedral side resembling Notre Dame de Paris, 81 x 100 cm, was sold for HK $ 41.5M including premium by Christie's on November 28, 2015.
1952 How Zao Wou-ki lost the Sea
2012 sold 125 M Tw$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Two oil paintings for sale by Ravenel at Taipei on December 2 are of high importance for understanding the artistic evolution of Zao Wou-ki after his arrival in Paris in 1948. The young Chinese was first attracted to Impressionist art and then had the revelation of Klee's teaching on inside feelings.
Painted in 1951, Bateaux fond bleu, 81 x 100 cm, is a figurative work, but boats are hardly distinguished fromthe background of sky and sea in the same dark blue tone.
Done in 1952, the other painting, 80 x 116 cm, goes further toward the creation of Zao's new world. The theme is the same, except that the color became red. It may be doubted if the shadows are boats or spots, but the masts and the sun still help to decide.
However the title of this artwork is unequivocal: La Mer perdue. Zao continues on his path to abstraction. Those who interpret his later works as hiding landscapes are probably right.
Zao masked the figurative, but unlike Pollock he did not completely destroy it. This comparable trend of both artists is much remarkable because at that date Zao had not yet met the Abstract Expressionists of New York.
Bateaux fond bleu is estimated Tw$ 55M. La Mer perdue is a more outstanding work due to the mutation of colors: its estimate is not published.
POST SALE COMMENT
The results came from two different sources.
Bateaux fond bleu was accessible through LiveAuctioneers. The hammer price recorded on this platform is Tw $ 55M.
The most outstanding of the two artworks was obviously la Mer perdue. Ravenel announced the result on their Facebook page: Tw $ 125 million, equivalent to U.S. $ 4.3 M.
Two oil paintings for sale by Ravenel at Taipei on December 2 are of high importance for understanding the artistic evolution of Zao Wou-ki after his arrival in Paris in 1948. The young Chinese was first attracted to Impressionist art and then had the revelation of Klee's teaching on inside feelings.
Painted in 1951, Bateaux fond bleu, 81 x 100 cm, is a figurative work, but boats are hardly distinguished fromthe background of sky and sea in the same dark blue tone.
Done in 1952, the other painting, 80 x 116 cm, goes further toward the creation of Zao's new world. The theme is the same, except that the color became red. It may be doubted if the shadows are boats or spots, but the masts and the sun still help to decide.
However the title of this artwork is unequivocal: La Mer perdue. Zao continues on his path to abstraction. Those who interpret his later works as hiding landscapes are probably right.
Zao masked the figurative, but unlike Pollock he did not completely destroy it. This comparable trend of both artists is much remarkable because at that date Zao had not yet met the Abstract Expressionists of New York.
Bateaux fond bleu is estimated Tw$ 55M. La Mer perdue is a more outstanding work due to the mutation of colors: its estimate is not published.
POST SALE COMMENT
The results came from two different sources.
Bateaux fond bleu was accessible through LiveAuctioneers. The hammer price recorded on this platform is Tw $ 55M.
The most outstanding of the two artworks was obviously la Mer perdue. Ravenel announced the result on their Facebook page: Tw $ 125 million, equivalent to U.S. $ 4.3 M.
1954 Fu Baoshi in the Clouds
2013 unsold
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Long before the Cultural Revolution, the People's Republic of China had sought some popular and social roots in ancient history. They found Qu Yuan.
This semi-legendary poet lived in the Warring States period, 2300 years ago. The Han also appreciated him for his work uncompromising with the political power. In 1953, he was promoted to the rank of world cultural celebrity.
Fu Baoshi is one of the best Chinese artists of the mid-twentieth century and a great connoisseur in art history.Familiar with graphical traditions of ink drawing, he innovates by an expressive use of color.
On June 2 in Beijing, Poly Auction sells a painting in ink and color made in 1954 by Fu, inspired by Qu Yuan and by the dream traditions of Taoism, on the theme of the gods of heaven.
The goddess of clouds occupies the central position in a jinrikisha riding a dragon. She has the mark of wisdom on the forehead and her head is surrounded by a radiant halo. Further, the god of rain is watching the scene with his favorite dragon.
The graphic effect is superb, with a sharpness of line that manages to express both cloud and rain. Of large size, 223 x 133 cm, it is unquestionably a masterpiece of Fu Baoshi, and a masterpiece of modern Chinese art.
Long before the Cultural Revolution, the People's Republic of China had sought some popular and social roots in ancient history. They found Qu Yuan.
This semi-legendary poet lived in the Warring States period, 2300 years ago. The Han also appreciated him for his work uncompromising with the political power. In 1953, he was promoted to the rank of world cultural celebrity.
Fu Baoshi is one of the best Chinese artists of the mid-twentieth century and a great connoisseur in art history.Familiar with graphical traditions of ink drawing, he innovates by an expressive use of color.
On June 2 in Beijing, Poly Auction sells a painting in ink and color made in 1954 by Fu, inspired by Qu Yuan and by the dream traditions of Taoism, on the theme of the gods of heaven.
The goddess of clouds occupies the central position in a jinrikisha riding a dragon. She has the mark of wisdom on the forehead and her head is surrounded by a radiant halo. Further, the god of rain is watching the scene with his favorite dragon.
The graphic effect is superb, with a sharpness of line that manages to express both cloud and rain. Of large size, 223 x 133 cm, it is unquestionably a masterpiece of Fu Baoshi, and a masterpiece of modern Chinese art.
1955 Poetry under the Moon
2016 SOLD for HK$ 47M including premium
Zao Wou-Ki is not a poet like the others. He does not use words but painting. After his arrival in Paris he seeks the essence of figurative themes associated with a proto-calligraphy that blends East and West by following altogether the automatic writing of Michaux and the mystery of the Oracle bones of ancient China.
Expressing the harmony of the shadows at the border between day and night, Vert Emeraude is one of the earliest examples of his art without figurative elements. Painted in 1950, this oil on canvas was sold for HK $ 70M including premium by Christie's on May 28, 2016.
The poet operates more systematically afterward a shift towards abstraction. He no longer watches boats and trees vanishing within the mist. He sees rain, wind, frost, light, all these elements without a proper form that create the atmosphere and poetry of our planet. His color has become an intercessor between the world and the viewer and his pseudo-calligraphy will soon become unnecessary.
On October 2 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells Paysage dans la Lune, oil on canvas 117 x 88 cm painted during the winter 1954- 1955, completed in January, 1955, lot 1017 estimated HK $ 40M.
This French title is misleading, probably unintentionally, with its extra-terrestrial meaning. The theme is the ambience of moonlight in a clear frosty winter night, with a contrast between the dark masses in the foreground that can still be the silhouette of the trees and the bursting light from the rest of the surface accentuated by an upward motion of the pseudo-calligraphy.
Expressing the harmony of the shadows at the border between day and night, Vert Emeraude is one of the earliest examples of his art without figurative elements. Painted in 1950, this oil on canvas was sold for HK $ 70M including premium by Christie's on May 28, 2016.
The poet operates more systematically afterward a shift towards abstraction. He no longer watches boats and trees vanishing within the mist. He sees rain, wind, frost, light, all these elements without a proper form that create the atmosphere and poetry of our planet. His color has become an intercessor between the world and the viewer and his pseudo-calligraphy will soon become unnecessary.
On October 2 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells Paysage dans la Lune, oil on canvas 117 x 88 cm painted during the winter 1954- 1955, completed in January, 1955, lot 1017 estimated HK $ 40M.
This French title is misleading, probably unintentionally, with its extra-terrestrial meaning. The theme is the ambience of moonlight in a clear frosty winter night, with a contrast between the dark masses in the foreground that can still be the silhouette of the trees and the bursting light from the rest of the surface accentuated by an upward motion of the pseudo-calligraphy.
1950s A Chrysanthemum in Paris
2010 SOLD 53 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In 2006, the art market discovers the importance of the still life paintings made in Paris by Sanyu (Chang Yu) in the 1950s. The highest bid is then recorded on a potted chrysanthemum, sold HK$ 29M including premium at Christie's.
Sanyu is a colorist who knows Matisse. The contrast is strong between the main subject, bright, and the crimson background, a solid color that could appeal to Rothko. The chrysanthemum is loved in the Far East, where it is a symbol of appeasement. The blue and white pot is a direct reference to China. It is an oil on masonite, 120 x 90 cm, whose composition is much balanced.
This artwork comes in the same auction house, Christie's in Hong Kong, on November 27, lot 1009. The press release does not publish an estimate, but considers that this lot has the potential to set a new auction record.
POST SALE COMMENT
The buyer of 2006 had an excellent deal, and Christie's perfectly accompanied the current enthusiasm for Sanyu's art of the 1950s.
Result: HK $ 53M including premium.
In 2006, the art market discovers the importance of the still life paintings made in Paris by Sanyu (Chang Yu) in the 1950s. The highest bid is then recorded on a potted chrysanthemum, sold HK$ 29M including premium at Christie's.
Sanyu is a colorist who knows Matisse. The contrast is strong between the main subject, bright, and the crimson background, a solid color that could appeal to Rothko. The chrysanthemum is loved in the Far East, where it is a symbol of appeasement. The blue and white pot is a direct reference to China. It is an oil on masonite, 120 x 90 cm, whose composition is much balanced.
This artwork comes in the same auction house, Christie's in Hong Kong, on November 27, lot 1009. The press release does not publish an estimate, but considers that this lot has the potential to set a new auction record.
POST SALE COMMENT
The buyer of 2006 had an excellent deal, and Christie's perfectly accompanied the current enthusiasm for Sanyu's art of the 1950s.
Result: HK $ 53M including premium.
1950s Nu Endormi by Sanyu
2021 SOLD for HK$ 80M by Sotheby's
Nu endormi, painted by Sanyu in the 1950s, depicts the dual dream of a young woman and of the erotic desire of the artist. It is a very rare case in Sanyu's art in which the model is identified. She was his blonde girlfriend in that period.
The woman is sleeping in a delicate expression of happiness and confidence. Her thumb went to be gently posed on the lower lip.
The dream of the artist is surreal. The forms have no borderline over the body, so that she is not covered by a bed sheet but instead wrapped in a white veil that extends throughout the rest of the composition. Although shoulders and legs are bare, the nudity is only a matter of fact through the title.
This oil on masonite has a large format, 71 x 127 cm, assessing its emotional importance for the artist. It is estimated HK $ 100M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 9, 2021, lot 1019. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
A smaller opus with the same title and theme, oil on board 50 x 100 cm, was sold for HK $ 47M from a lower estimate of HK $ 20M by Sotheby's on March 31, 2018, lot 1011.
The woman is sleeping in a delicate expression of happiness and confidence. Her thumb went to be gently posed on the lower lip.
The dream of the artist is surreal. The forms have no borderline over the body, so that she is not covered by a bed sheet but instead wrapped in a white veil that extends throughout the rest of the composition. Although shoulders and legs are bare, the nudity is only a matter of fact through the title.
This oil on masonite has a large format, 71 x 127 cm, assessing its emotional importance for the artist. It is estimated HK $ 100M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 9, 2021, lot 1019. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
A smaller opus with the same title and theme, oil on board 50 x 100 cm, was sold for HK $ 47M from a lower estimate of HK $ 20M by Sotheby's on March 31, 2018, lot 1011.
1950s The Chinese Jardinière
2020 withdrawn
During the 1950s Sanyu is in Paris. These are difficult years. He is disillusioned and temperamental, and his art is not acknowledged. He strives to bring some deeper Chinese influence to his paintings, the technique of which remains Western.
The theme of potted flowers on a table is not new to him. An oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm painted in the 1930s was sold for € 8.8M including premium by Aguttes on December 18, 2017 over a lower estimate of € 3M.
His oil paintings on masonite from the 1950s are abundant and undated, and there are few marks to establish a chronology. The plant, a reflection of the artist's solitude, is isolated in its soil. The architectural geometry of the rods allows it to rise and to occupy the entire surface of the image.
The jardinière deliberately responds to the Chinese taste of blue and white. The flower, when it is recognizable, is chosen from the traditional Chinese iconography : chrysanthemum, peony, sometimes the lotus. The prunus on which the magpies come to perch may mark the final phase of this dark period. The dominant color is pink, which is also the color of the flesh.
Chrysanthemums are the most common. Here are two results including premium : HK $ 53M for an oil on masonite 124 x 94 cm by Christie's on November 27, 2010 ; HK $ 81M for an oil on masonite 130 x 74 cm by Sotheby's on April 5, 2014.
An oil on masonite 110 x 80 cm with a single abundantly blossomed peony is estimated € 2.5M for sale by Aguttes in Paris Hôtel Drouot on March 11, lot 1. Recently discovered, it had been acquired by its first owner from the artist at the end of the 1950s. Here is the link to the press release published by Drouot.
Unlike almost all the other potted flowers in this series, the plain background is replaced by a colored curtain which reduces the austerity. If the reasoning proposed above with the magpies is correct, this vigorous peony could be one of the last in the series.
The theme of potted flowers on a table is not new to him. An oil on canvas 92 x 73 cm painted in the 1930s was sold for € 8.8M including premium by Aguttes on December 18, 2017 over a lower estimate of € 3M.
His oil paintings on masonite from the 1950s are abundant and undated, and there are few marks to establish a chronology. The plant, a reflection of the artist's solitude, is isolated in its soil. The architectural geometry of the rods allows it to rise and to occupy the entire surface of the image.
The jardinière deliberately responds to the Chinese taste of blue and white. The flower, when it is recognizable, is chosen from the traditional Chinese iconography : chrysanthemum, peony, sometimes the lotus. The prunus on which the magpies come to perch may mark the final phase of this dark period. The dominant color is pink, which is also the color of the flesh.
Chrysanthemums are the most common. Here are two results including premium : HK $ 53M for an oil on masonite 124 x 94 cm by Christie's on November 27, 2010 ; HK $ 81M for an oil on masonite 130 x 74 cm by Sotheby's on April 5, 2014.
An oil on masonite 110 x 80 cm with a single abundantly blossomed peony is estimated € 2.5M for sale by Aguttes in Paris Hôtel Drouot on March 11, lot 1. Recently discovered, it had been acquired by its first owner from the artist at the end of the 1950s. Here is the link to the press release published by Drouot.
Unlike almost all the other potted flowers in this series, the plain background is replaced by a colored curtain which reduces the austerity. If the reasoning proposed above with the magpies is correct, this vigorous peony could be one of the last in the series.
1956 Sanyu, the Parisian Chinese
2009 SOLD 36.5 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Sanyu (Chang Yu) spent his artistic career in Paris. The Chinese artist was mainly known as a small master of female nude studies, very distorted, which sometimes remind Kisling's art.
In the 1950s, he changed his style, since then inspired by Chinese tradition, in carefully composed works that depict plants, small animals, sometimes a stylized landscape, sometimes an ancient Chinese poem. The paintings of this period are raised gradually for three years to the heights of the art market.
On May 24, Christie's Hong Kong sold 41 MHK$ fees included an oil on panel, 154 x 77 cm. A shrub is planted in a flower pot. At the top, a bird is feeding three chicks in their nest. Below, a cat standing on his feet is watching the scene. There is a striking contrast between the dark background and plant and the bright details of the story.
On October 6, Lotus et Poissons Rouges (Lotus and Red Fish) is estimated 15 MHK$ at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. The painter liked this large painting, 117 x 179 cm, which is seen behind him in a photo taken in 1956 in his studio. The water, the perspective of water surface and the sky split the painting in almost parallel strips scratched by the stylized lotus.
The lotus is a symbol of strength and purity. The press release indicates that this flower inspired at the same time Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien), another outstanding Chinese artist who will have his place later in this column.
POST SALE COMMENT
Excellent result at 36.5 MHK $ including premium, which confirms that the price obtained by Christie's in May was not an isolated phenomenon.
The results of Sanyu are to be followed closely, at least for his works of the 50s.
Sanyu (Chang Yu) spent his artistic career in Paris. The Chinese artist was mainly known as a small master of female nude studies, very distorted, which sometimes remind Kisling's art.
In the 1950s, he changed his style, since then inspired by Chinese tradition, in carefully composed works that depict plants, small animals, sometimes a stylized landscape, sometimes an ancient Chinese poem. The paintings of this period are raised gradually for three years to the heights of the art market.
On May 24, Christie's Hong Kong sold 41 MHK$ fees included an oil on panel, 154 x 77 cm. A shrub is planted in a flower pot. At the top, a bird is feeding three chicks in their nest. Below, a cat standing on his feet is watching the scene. There is a striking contrast between the dark background and plant and the bright details of the story.
On October 6, Lotus et Poissons Rouges (Lotus and Red Fish) is estimated 15 MHK$ at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. The painter liked this large painting, 117 x 179 cm, which is seen behind him in a photo taken in 1956 in his studio. The water, the perspective of water surface and the sky split the painting in almost parallel strips scratched by the stylized lotus.
The lotus is a symbol of strength and purity. The press release indicates that this flower inspired at the same time Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien), another outstanding Chinese artist who will have his place later in this column.
POST SALE COMMENT
Excellent result at 36.5 MHK $ including premium, which confirms that the price obtained by Christie's in May was not an isolated phenomenon.
The results of Sanyu are to be followed closely, at least for his works of the 50s.
1956 The Forces of the Sky
2019 SOLD for RMB 56M including premium
Appealed by abstract art, Zao Wou-Ki begins by expressing the confrontations of colors in the nature. He adds accumulations of illegible calligraphic signs that stage a contribution from the Chinese civilization. Vert émeraude, painted in 1950, is one of the earliest examples of this duality. This 127 x 127 cm oil on canvas was sold for HK $ 90M including premium by Christie's on May 28, 2016.
The artist hesitates for a few further years between abstraction and a very stylized figuration. At the end of 1954, his inspiration becomes cosmic, with centers of very dense forces that release centrifugal debris into a very colorful sky. Completed in January 1955, Paysage dans la Lune is a revealing title : Earth is no longer enough for Zao. This 117 x 88 cm oil on canvas was sold for HK $ 47M including premium by Sotheby's on October 2, 2016.
The centering of the energies comes soon to replace the volcanic composition of the previous example. Ailleurs depicts three centers of forces of equal size but unequal densities, one above the other on a vertical axis. This 130 x 97 cm oil on canvas painted in 1955 was sold for HK $ 52M including premium by Phillips on May 26, 2019.
On September 21 in Shanghai, Christie's sells Voie Lactée, oil on canvas 162 x 114 cm dated 9.11.1956, lot 307 estimated RMB 38M. This opus is an encounter between night and day : the Milky Way composed of a myriad of pseudo-calligraphic centrifugal signs is encircled by the day sky in an elegant mingling of lilac, azure, aquamarine and turquoise.
This gradual approach to cosmos and eternity, sustained as in a watermark by the traditional Chinese culture, culminates with Et la Terre était sans forme. This oil on canvas 200 x 162 cm completed in 1957 just before the break with Lan Lan was sold for HK $ 183M including premium by Poly on March 29, 2018.
The artist hesitates for a few further years between abstraction and a very stylized figuration. At the end of 1954, his inspiration becomes cosmic, with centers of very dense forces that release centrifugal debris into a very colorful sky. Completed in January 1955, Paysage dans la Lune is a revealing title : Earth is no longer enough for Zao. This 117 x 88 cm oil on canvas was sold for HK $ 47M including premium by Sotheby's on October 2, 2016.
The centering of the energies comes soon to replace the volcanic composition of the previous example. Ailleurs depicts three centers of forces of equal size but unequal densities, one above the other on a vertical axis. This 130 x 97 cm oil on canvas painted in 1955 was sold for HK $ 52M including premium by Phillips on May 26, 2019.
On September 21 in Shanghai, Christie's sells Voie Lactée, oil on canvas 162 x 114 cm dated 9.11.1956, lot 307 estimated RMB 38M. This opus is an encounter between night and day : the Milky Way composed of a myriad of pseudo-calligraphic centrifugal signs is encircled by the day sky in an elegant mingling of lilac, azure, aquamarine and turquoise.
This gradual approach to cosmos and eternity, sustained as in a watermark by the traditional Chinese culture, culminates with Et la Terre était sans forme. This oil on canvas 200 x 162 cm completed in 1957 just before the break with Lan Lan was sold for HK $ 183M including premium by Poly on March 29, 2018.
1957 Zao Wou-Ki also known as Zhao Wuji
2009 SOLD 35 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The influences of Chinese and European arts mingle harmoniously in the work of Zao Wou-Ki.
In 1957, when he was in Paris for nine years, his art is maturing. Pushed by the helplessness of the failure of his first marriage, he renounces any figuration in oils on canvas without drawing. The subtle play of colors with no real framing are highlighted by a brightness that seems to come from within the picture.
Some of his paintings can be interpreted as abstract landscapes or as groups of clouds. This is not the case with "Nous Deux" (We Two), an abstraction embellished with calligraphic signs, 2 x 1.6 m, whose title reveals the personal difficulties of the artist on that year.
This beautiful and important painting is estimated 10 MHK $ at Christie's, which sells it in Hong Kong on May 24.
This auction room is the leading world specialist of Zao Wou-Ki: the fourteen highest results of the artist have been achieved there, according to the database Artvalue. Compared with them, the above estimate seems too conservative.
POST SALE COMMENT
As I wrote, the estimate was too cautious. This large painting executed in a key period of the career of the artist was sold 35 MHK$ including premium. This price is approaching the highest result for Zao Wou-Ki: 45 MHK$ fee included in the same auction room, on 30 November 2008 for a painting executed in the previous year, 1956, 195 x 130 cm.
The influences of Chinese and European arts mingle harmoniously in the work of Zao Wou-Ki.
In 1957, when he was in Paris for nine years, his art is maturing. Pushed by the helplessness of the failure of his first marriage, he renounces any figuration in oils on canvas without drawing. The subtle play of colors with no real framing are highlighted by a brightness that seems to come from within the picture.
Some of his paintings can be interpreted as abstract landscapes or as groups of clouds. This is not the case with "Nous Deux" (We Two), an abstraction embellished with calligraphic signs, 2 x 1.6 m, whose title reveals the personal difficulties of the artist on that year.
This beautiful and important painting is estimated 10 MHK $ at Christie's, which sells it in Hong Kong on May 24.
This auction room is the leading world specialist of Zao Wou-Ki: the fourteen highest results of the artist have been achieved there, according to the database Artvalue. Compared with them, the above estimate seems too conservative.
POST SALE COMMENT
As I wrote, the estimate was too cautious. This large painting executed in a key period of the career of the artist was sold 35 MHK$ including premium. This price is approaching the highest result for Zao Wou-Ki: 45 MHK$ fee included in the same auction room, on 30 November 2008 for a painting executed in the previous year, 1956, 195 x 130 cm.
1958 The Second Birth of Zao Wou-Ki
2013 SOLD 90 M RMB including premium
Zao Wou-ki was deeply shocked by his divorce in early 1957. The oil on canvas titled Nous Deux, 161 x 200 cm, called for the dawn of his second career in a world inhabited by strange and indecipherable calligraphic signs. Nous Deux was sold for HK $ 35M including premium at Christie's on May 24, 2009 .
Nous Deux is one of his last works that had an explicit title. From this turning point, Zao expresses his inner fire and leaves the viewer with the task of interpreting it, or just admiring.
Abstraction is an oil on canvas, 130 x 162 cm, painted in 1958. This explosion of glowing fire is like the origin of the world in a dark environment, such as Matta also could have dreamed it. The fake calligrams from Nous Deux become smoky debris floating in front of the bright colors.
For Zao, this artwork was also the starting point of his life as a famous artist. Exhibited alongside Hartung at the Galerie Charpentier, it ensured an immediate success for this 37 year old artist. This masterpiece spent afterward half a century in the Art Institute of Chicago which is deaccessioning it now.
Abstraction is the star lot of the first great sale made by Sotheby's in Beijing, on December 1. It is estimated RMB yuan 35M. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sotheby's had rightly highlighted the importance of this specific Abstraction in the art of Zao Wou-ki. It is a great success: RMB 90M including premium.
Nous Deux is one of his last works that had an explicit title. From this turning point, Zao expresses his inner fire and leaves the viewer with the task of interpreting it, or just admiring.
Abstraction is an oil on canvas, 130 x 162 cm, painted in 1958. This explosion of glowing fire is like the origin of the world in a dark environment, such as Matta also could have dreamed it. The fake calligrams from Nous Deux become smoky debris floating in front of the bright colors.
For Zao, this artwork was also the starting point of his life as a famous artist. Exhibited alongside Hartung at the Galerie Charpentier, it ensured an immediate success for this 37 year old artist. This masterpiece spent afterward half a century in the Art Institute of Chicago which is deaccessioning it now.
Abstraction is the star lot of the first great sale made by Sotheby's in Beijing, on December 1. It is estimated RMB yuan 35M. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Sotheby's had rightly highlighted the importance of this specific Abstraction in the art of Zao Wou-ki. It is a great success: RMB 90M including premium.
1958 Luxuriance of a Chrysanthemum
2014 SOLD 80 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In Paris, Sanyu has not forgotten his Chinese origin. In the 1950s, he devotes his art to a synthesis of Western and Eastern figurative elements, with an authenticity specially interesting because he was no longer looking for fame. The bright colors in front of which he dispositions his figures are inspired by abstract expressionism.
Now his potted chrysanthemums are included among the masterpieces of exiled Chinese painting.
He uses the oil on masonite, a Western technique. Still life on tabletop is not a Chinese theme. The chrysanthemum is the link to the Chinese imagery. It reveals its power when it is raising up with luxuriance towards the sky or ceiling, with colors inspired by the traditional art of lacquer.
On April 5 in Hong Kong, an amazing example is for sale by Sotheby's. In large size for this artist, 130 x 74 cm, this painting is estimated HK $ 40M.
Fortunately for the historian, this painting comes with a dated information, which is not often the case for the later art by Sanyu. In March 1958, it was chosen by the artist to illustrate his quest for East meets West within a modern art exhibition in Camargue.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
In Paris, Sanyu has not forgotten his Chinese origin. In the 1950s, he devotes his art to a synthesis of Western and Eastern figurative elements, with an authenticity specially interesting because he was no longer looking for fame. The bright colors in front of which he dispositions his figures are inspired by abstract expressionism.
Now his potted chrysanthemums are included among the masterpieces of exiled Chinese painting.
He uses the oil on masonite, a Western technique. Still life on tabletop is not a Chinese theme. The chrysanthemum is the link to the Chinese imagery. It reveals its power when it is raising up with luxuriance towards the sky or ceiling, with colors inspired by the traditional art of lacquer.
On April 5 in Hong Kong, an amazing example is for sale by Sotheby's. In large size for this artist, 130 x 74 cm, this painting is estimated HK $ 40M.
Fortunately for the historian, this painting comes with a dated information, which is not often the case for the later art by Sanyu. In March 1958, it was chosen by the artist to illustrate his quest for East meets West within a modern art exhibition in Camargue.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
19.11.59 by Zao Wou-Ki
2020 SOLD for HK$ 110M by Sotheby's
At the end of the 1950s Zao Wou-Ki visited New York. His dealer Samuel Kootz, who also represented Pierre Soulages, introduced him to the artists of abstract expressionism. His creativity then changed considerably.
Previously Zao wanted to represent the mystical origin of the world by supplementing his paintings with pseudo-calligraphic inscriptions, often centrifugal, which evoke the oldest remains of Chinese culture. This style is identified as the Oracle Bone period.
Zao intelligently understands that his Oracle Bones cannot build a universal art. His new Hurricane series offers an unprecedented synthesis of abstract expressionism and action painting, on large canvases that facilitate the amplitude and the violence of the gesture.
The transition was not instantaneous. 14.12.59, 130 x 162 cm, sold for HK $ 177M by Christie's in 2018, is one of the ultimate masterpieces from the first Oracle Bones. The examples below are Hurricanes.
In a vertical format, 3.4.60-1.2.69 evokes an endless swirl. This oil on canvas 195 x 130 cm was sold for HK $ 71M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013. Also vertical, 12.15.60 preserves some traces of oracles. This oil on canvas 130 x 96 cm was sold for HK $ 49M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018.
On July 8, 2020, Sotheby's listed two Hurricanes, in horizontal formats that anticipate the abstract panoramas of the next phase, from 1963 to 1966. With a dominant intense blue, 19.11.59, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm, was sold for HK $ 110M from a lower estimate of HK $ 60M, lot 1018. With the colors of fire, 20.03.60, oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm, was sold for HK $ 115M from a lower estimate of HK $ 65M, lot 1017.
Previously Zao wanted to represent the mystical origin of the world by supplementing his paintings with pseudo-calligraphic inscriptions, often centrifugal, which evoke the oldest remains of Chinese culture. This style is identified as the Oracle Bone period.
Zao intelligently understands that his Oracle Bones cannot build a universal art. His new Hurricane series offers an unprecedented synthesis of abstract expressionism and action painting, on large canvases that facilitate the amplitude and the violence of the gesture.
The transition was not instantaneous. 14.12.59, 130 x 162 cm, sold for HK $ 177M by Christie's in 2018, is one of the ultimate masterpieces from the first Oracle Bones. The examples below are Hurricanes.
In a vertical format, 3.4.60-1.2.69 evokes an endless swirl. This oil on canvas 195 x 130 cm was sold for HK $ 71M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013. Also vertical, 12.15.60 preserves some traces of oracles. This oil on canvas 130 x 96 cm was sold for HK $ 49M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018.
On July 8, 2020, Sotheby's listed two Hurricanes, in horizontal formats that anticipate the abstract panoramas of the next phase, from 1963 to 1966. With a dominant intense blue, 19.11.59, oil on canvas 114 x 146 cm, was sold for HK $ 110M from a lower estimate of HK $ 60M, lot 1018. With the colors of fire, 20.03.60, oil on canvas 130 x 162 cm, was sold for HK $ 115M from a lower estimate of HK $ 65M, lot 1017.
1959 Red and Green Contrast
2018 SOLD for HK$ 62M including premium
Chu Teh-Chun (Zhu Dequn) was teaching Western painting in Taipei. In 1955 then aged 35 he made the long journey which offered him a direct viewing of the artworks and he settled permanently in Paris.
Chu finds his own style in 1956 by visiting a posthumous retrospective of Nicolas de Staël. He will push even further than De Staël the limits between the figurative and the abstract while applying to the oil painting a technique of melting the layers that will remind the washes in Tang and Song inks.
In 1958 Chu begins to number his compositions. His first works are varied, testifying to his gradual trend towards full abstraction. He sometimes imitates the calligraphic sign for the magnitude of the gesture and the density of the line. Like the abstract expressionists he attributes to the colors a dramatic role preponderant upon forms.
Chu's immediate success should not make forget that Zao Wou-Ki was already applauded for several years in Paris with similar solutions.
Painted in 1959 the composition No. 39 is an oil on canvas 87 x 116 cm, a large format for this artist at that time. Without any figurative evocation this opus titled Rouge lourd et vert léger shows contrasts of these two colors dominated by a pattern of black scars and spots in the rhythmic style of Franz Kline. The slightly rising composition may echo the optimism of Kandinsky.
Rouge lourd et vert léger was sold for HK $ 40M including Premium by Poly on November 24, 2012 over a lower estimate of HK $ 8M. It is estimated HK $ 50M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on March 31, lot 1035.
Chu finds his own style in 1956 by visiting a posthumous retrospective of Nicolas de Staël. He will push even further than De Staël the limits between the figurative and the abstract while applying to the oil painting a technique of melting the layers that will remind the washes in Tang and Song inks.
In 1958 Chu begins to number his compositions. His first works are varied, testifying to his gradual trend towards full abstraction. He sometimes imitates the calligraphic sign for the magnitude of the gesture and the density of the line. Like the abstract expressionists he attributes to the colors a dramatic role preponderant upon forms.
Chu's immediate success should not make forget that Zao Wou-Ki was already applauded for several years in Paris with similar solutions.
Painted in 1959 the composition No. 39 is an oil on canvas 87 x 116 cm, a large format for this artist at that time. Without any figurative evocation this opus titled Rouge lourd et vert léger shows contrasts of these two colors dominated by a pattern of black scars and spots in the rhythmic style of Franz Kline. The slightly rising composition may echo the optimism of Kandinsky.
Rouge lourd et vert léger was sold for HK $ 40M including Premium by Poly on November 24, 2012 over a lower estimate of HK $ 8M. It is estimated HK $ 50M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on March 31, lot 1035.
1961 The Exhausted Buffalo
2018 unsold
Pan Tianshou mixes traditional techniques with modern themes. His ink and color paintings on paper leave large empty spaces that further enhance the beauty of the drawing.
Since 1957 he is for the second time the head of the National Academy. Suspected of being a Kuomintang spy, he is viciously persecuted by the Cultural Revolution from 1966 until his death in 1971. A 358 x 150 cm landscape painted in 1963 was sold for RMB 290M including premium by China Guardian on November 20, 2018.
Animals are allegories. Perched at the top of the rock, the eagle or raven is an aggressive vigil. The buffalo exhausted by its plowing work receives as its only reward from the humans the right to have a rest in the pond.
With a Chinese title meaning After Plowing, a buffalo painted in 1958, 227 x 121 cm, was sold for RMB 160M including premium by China Guardian on June 19, 2017. The animal with the rope of slavery in the nostrils keeps its head down and has a sad gaze.
With a less politically risky title meaning Buffalo in Spring, the 248 x 101 cm painting made in 1961 is almost identical, with variations in the foliage and another position of the poem. It will be sold on December 7 by Poly in Beijing, lot 2524. It is illustrated in the China Daily article announcing the sale.
Since 1957 he is for the second time the head of the National Academy. Suspected of being a Kuomintang spy, he is viciously persecuted by the Cultural Revolution from 1966 until his death in 1971. A 358 x 150 cm landscape painted in 1963 was sold for RMB 290M including premium by China Guardian on November 20, 2018.
Animals are allegories. Perched at the top of the rock, the eagle or raven is an aggressive vigil. The buffalo exhausted by its plowing work receives as its only reward from the humans the right to have a rest in the pond.
With a Chinese title meaning After Plowing, a buffalo painted in 1958, 227 x 121 cm, was sold for RMB 160M including premium by China Guardian on June 19, 2017. The animal with the rope of slavery in the nostrils keeps its head down and has a sad gaze.
With a less politically risky title meaning Buffalo in Spring, the 248 x 101 cm painting made in 1961 is almost identical, with variations in the foliage and another position of the poem. It will be sold on December 7 by Poly in Beijing, lot 2524. It is illustrated in the China Daily article announcing the sale.
1963 The Whirlpool of the World
2017 SOLD for HK$ 76M including premium
Facing the canvas Zao Wou-Ki releases his impulses. His violence does not prevent his lucidity : he knows that the total and complex mastery of his brush and of his paint layers allows him to go even further in the creation of his universe in perpetual motion. He is somehow an abstract surrealist.
From 1957 he regularly visits New York where he is represented by the Kootz Gallery. He incorporates in his style the gestural spontaneity of the Action Painting experienced by him as a fight against the canvas along with a more frequent use of large sizes standardized to 130 x 195 cm in the United States.
The landscape view with its infinite horizons replaces the vertical format. The moving magma of lava supersedes the volcanic eruption in his sensorial universe.
On September 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells 09.01.63, oil on canvas 130 x 195 cm, lot 1016 estimated HK $ 50M. In a nocturnal atmosphere the bubbling soil brings a dazzling illumination.
The creativity of the artist continues irrepressibly. 14.11.63, a similar scene of the same dimensions in an incandescent daylight, was sold for HK $ 39M including premium by Christie's on May 28, 2011. On a larger format 255 x 345 cm later reduced to 230 cm high, 29.09.64, a view even closer to the central whirlpool of the artist's mind, was sold for HK $ 153M including premium by Christie's on May 27, 2017.
From 1957 he regularly visits New York where he is represented by the Kootz Gallery. He incorporates in his style the gestural spontaneity of the Action Painting experienced by him as a fight against the canvas along with a more frequent use of large sizes standardized to 130 x 195 cm in the United States.
The landscape view with its infinite horizons replaces the vertical format. The moving magma of lava supersedes the volcanic eruption in his sensorial universe.
On September 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells 09.01.63, oil on canvas 130 x 195 cm, lot 1016 estimated HK $ 50M. In a nocturnal atmosphere the bubbling soil brings a dazzling illumination.
The creativity of the artist continues irrepressibly. 14.11.63, a similar scene of the same dimensions in an incandescent daylight, was sold for HK $ 39M including premium by Christie's on May 28, 2011. On a larger format 255 x 345 cm later reduced to 230 cm high, 29.09.64, a view even closer to the central whirlpool of the artist's mind, was sold for HK $ 153M including premium by Christie's on May 27, 2017.
1963 Reminicence of the Mountains
2013 sold for hk$ 71m including premium by Christie's
2018 unsold
PRE 2018 SALE DISCUSSION
Born in 1920, Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun both started their art studies in Hangzhou in 1935. Their school's director was Lin Fengmian who had spent eight years in France and was promoting a mixing of traditional Chinese art and Western modern art.
Lin's students were to settle in Paris, Zao in 1948 and Chu in 1955. Both appreciated soon after their respective arrivals that abstraction was more promising than Lin's figurative art for the construction of their global art. However Chu's abstract art was not triggered by Zao but by a visit in a posthumous exhibition of paintings by Nicolas de Staël.
The influence of their Chinese training was similar. They mastered the subtle wash mingling of Song drawings and the communion with the observers by the calligraphic gesture. Both acquired an extensive range of colors inspired by abstract expressionism.
After a completely abstract period, Chu is inspired by reminiscences of the mountains of his native province. A diptych of overall size 195 x 243 cm painted in 1963 was sold for HK $ 71M including premium by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 23, 2013. This oil on canvas is listed in the same auction room on November 24, lot 21.
This artwork is abstract, but it displays the perfect reflection of a mountain landscape in a lake. The dull hues of the rock are dotted with brightly colored spots reminiscent of the explosions of lights in the villages of S.H. Raza who was living in France since 1950.
Chu's art offers his poetic impression of nature. In that phase it is different from the abstract boiling landscapes painted by Zao. From 1965 Zao will also realize abstract views imitating the colors and shapes of snow-capped mountains.
Born in 1920, Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun both started their art studies in Hangzhou in 1935. Their school's director was Lin Fengmian who had spent eight years in France and was promoting a mixing of traditional Chinese art and Western modern art.
Lin's students were to settle in Paris, Zao in 1948 and Chu in 1955. Both appreciated soon after their respective arrivals that abstraction was more promising than Lin's figurative art for the construction of their global art. However Chu's abstract art was not triggered by Zao but by a visit in a posthumous exhibition of paintings by Nicolas de Staël.
The influence of their Chinese training was similar. They mastered the subtle wash mingling of Song drawings and the communion with the observers by the calligraphic gesture. Both acquired an extensive range of colors inspired by abstract expressionism.
After a completely abstract period, Chu is inspired by reminiscences of the mountains of his native province. A diptych of overall size 195 x 243 cm painted in 1963 was sold for HK $ 71M including premium by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 23, 2013. This oil on canvas is listed in the same auction room on November 24, lot 21.
This artwork is abstract, but it displays the perfect reflection of a mountain landscape in a lake. The dull hues of the rock are dotted with brightly colored spots reminiscent of the explosions of lights in the villages of S.H. Raza who was living in France since 1950.
Chu's art offers his poetic impression of nature. In that phase it is different from the abstract boiling landscapes painted by Zao. From 1965 Zao will also realize abstract views imitating the colors and shapes of snow-capped mountains.
1963 Magma and Smoke
2020 Sold for HK$ 54M including premium
In the art of Zao Wou-Ki the years 1959 to 1972 are identified as the Hurricane period. The artist has ceased to refer to the creation of the world. His inner violence is however intact. He expresses it through imaginary landscapes whose illuminations emerge from the ground, a source of fire that can no longer be rock and takes the ripples of a magma.
In its complete form, this landscape has a horizon. 9.1.63, 130 x 195 cm, sold for HK $ 76M including premium by Sotheby's on September 30, 2017, is a night scenery. A daytime version in the same size, 11.11.63, was sold for HK $ 39M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2011.
In the same period, the artist also imagines the details of his fire.
21.10.63, 200 x 180 cm, looks like a lava flow in a horizontal channel. Although Zao was reducing his palette in this phase, predominantly bright red works are rare. This oil on canvas will be sold as lot 9 by Christie's in Hong Kong on July 10. The release of June 5 announces an estimate beyond US $ 10M.
On July 8 in Hong Kong, Phillips sells from a same provenance two oils on canvas that evoke a column of volcanic smoke rising towards the sky. The smoke is sprinkled with ashes as in the period of the Oracle bones.
22.6.63, 146 x 89 cm with a red background, is estimated HK $ 38M, lot 8.
24.10.63, 194 x 97 cm, is estimated HK $ 45M, lot 9.
Please watch the video shared by Phillips.
29.9.64 enlarges a detail of the magma while including a source of incandescence. This monumental oil on canvas 230 x 345 cm was sold for HK $ 153M including premium by Christie's on May 27, 2017.
RESULTS :
Christie's : Unsold
Phillips Lot 8 : SOLD for HK$ 54M including premium
Phillips Lot 9 : SOLD for HK$ 46M including premium
In its complete form, this landscape has a horizon. 9.1.63, 130 x 195 cm, sold for HK $ 76M including premium by Sotheby's on September 30, 2017, is a night scenery. A daytime version in the same size, 11.11.63, was sold for HK $ 39M including premium by Christie's on May 8, 2011.
In the same period, the artist also imagines the details of his fire.
21.10.63, 200 x 180 cm, looks like a lava flow in a horizontal channel. Although Zao was reducing his palette in this phase, predominantly bright red works are rare. This oil on canvas will be sold as lot 9 by Christie's in Hong Kong on July 10. The release of June 5 announces an estimate beyond US $ 10M.
On July 8 in Hong Kong, Phillips sells from a same provenance two oils on canvas that evoke a column of volcanic smoke rising towards the sky. The smoke is sprinkled with ashes as in the period of the Oracle bones.
22.6.63, 146 x 89 cm with a red background, is estimated HK $ 38M, lot 8.
24.10.63, 194 x 97 cm, is estimated HK $ 45M, lot 9.
Please watch the video shared by Phillips.
29.9.64 enlarges a detail of the magma while including a source of incandescence. This monumental oil on canvas 230 x 345 cm was sold for HK $ 153M including premium by Christie's on May 27, 2017.
RESULTS :
Christie's : Unsold
Phillips Lot 8 : SOLD for HK$ 54M including premium
Phillips Lot 9 : SOLD for HK$ 46M including premium
1964 Pine and Eagle by Pan Tianshou
2015 SOLD for RMB 93M including premium
Pine and eagle illustrate the strength, each in its own way. The bird is dominant. The lonely tree is autonomous. Qi Baishi did not miss it. His branched eagle 266 x 100 cm is a tribute to his patron Jiang Jieshi. This work made in 1946 was sold for RMB 425M including premium by China Guardian on May 22, 2011.
Pan Tianshou is using ink and color on large size papers and appears as the successor to Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong. He was director of the National Academy of Chinese Art (Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts) from 1945 to 1947 and again from 1957.
Pan desired to be a theorist of modernity and his style could not fit the official art. His arrest in 1966 by the Red Guards marks the end of his career. His line is spiky and aggressive to express the strength. The landscape only sketched in light colored areas is limited in the corners of the paper by bird, branch or rock.
Crows on a rock, 82 x 81 cm, made in 1956, is a fine example altogether of his theory of composition and of the originality of his artistic expression of animals. This work was sold for RMB 27.6M including premium by Poly on 3 December 2012.
Two eagles on a rock, 72 x 241 cm, made in 1959, was sold for RMB 47M including premium by Poly on 5 December 2011. The beautifully drawn birds appear both active and intelligent.
On November 15 in Beijing, China Guardian sells two artworks by Pan Tianshou.
Lot 1262, titled Dawn, 144 x 195 cm, made in 1961, is estimated RMB 52M. It features an eagle with a terrible head, as if he were concerned about his future. The artist is indeed well away from the idealized animals by Xu Beihong.
Lot 1261, titled Pine, 207 x 151 cm, made in 1964, shows the king of trees in an enveloping and dominant position. This work is estimated RMB 68M.
RESULTS including premium :
Dawn SOLD for RMB yuan 69M
Pine SOLD for RMB yuan 93M
Pan Tianshou is using ink and color on large size papers and appears as the successor to Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong. He was director of the National Academy of Chinese Art (Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts) from 1945 to 1947 and again from 1957.
Pan desired to be a theorist of modernity and his style could not fit the official art. His arrest in 1966 by the Red Guards marks the end of his career. His line is spiky and aggressive to express the strength. The landscape only sketched in light colored areas is limited in the corners of the paper by bird, branch or rock.
Crows on a rock, 82 x 81 cm, made in 1956, is a fine example altogether of his theory of composition and of the originality of his artistic expression of animals. This work was sold for RMB 27.6M including premium by Poly on 3 December 2012.
Two eagles on a rock, 72 x 241 cm, made in 1959, was sold for RMB 47M including premium by Poly on 5 December 2011. The beautifully drawn birds appear both active and intelligent.
On November 15 in Beijing, China Guardian sells two artworks by Pan Tianshou.
Lot 1262, titled Dawn, 144 x 195 cm, made in 1961, is estimated RMB 52M. It features an eagle with a terrible head, as if he were concerned about his future. The artist is indeed well away from the idealized animals by Xu Beihong.
Lot 1261, titled Pine, 207 x 151 cm, made in 1964, shows the king of trees in an enveloping and dominant position. This work is estimated RMB 68M.
RESULTS including premium :
Dawn SOLD for RMB yuan 69M
Pine SOLD for RMB yuan 93M
1964 Long march through the mountains
2017 sold for rmb 88m including premium
The paintings in ink and colors on the theme of the mountains in bright red realized by Li Keran in 1964 glorify the thought and action of Mao. A poem by the Great Helmsman appears in a border of the image, just like Chinese artists always calligraphed within their scrolls the texts of the greatest philosophers.
The steep mountains of Li Keran symbolize the domination of the political regime over the wilderness and the red hills that extend to the horizon demonstrate that this power is unlimited. The small houses quietly nestled in the valleys or on the mountainside attest to the protection provided by the regime to the people.
The human being is rarely seen in the red mountains of Li Keran. The 134 x 82 cm scroll for sale by China Guardian in Beijing on June 19 is a significant epic exception.
An endless line of troops is walking forward on the road in the narrow valley, symbolizing the Long March. They go together towards progress. They are guided by the red flag and none of them lost his way at the crossing with another path. Each one carries his rifle. This artwork is estimated RMB 68M, lot 665.
Two artworks from the same year highlighted this series as the masterpieces of Maoist art. Mountains in red, 131 x 84 cm, was sold for RMB 293M including premium by Poly on June 3, 2012. Thousands of mountains in autumn, 76 x 46 cm, was sold for RMB 184M including premium by China Guardian on November 15, 2015 over a lower estimate of RMB 68M.
A black and white 96 x 146 cm drawing made in 1959 by Li Keran on the theme of the Long March through the mountains was sold for RMB 108M including premium by China Guardian on November 22, 2010.
The steep mountains of Li Keran symbolize the domination of the political regime over the wilderness and the red hills that extend to the horizon demonstrate that this power is unlimited. The small houses quietly nestled in the valleys or on the mountainside attest to the protection provided by the regime to the people.
The human being is rarely seen in the red mountains of Li Keran. The 134 x 82 cm scroll for sale by China Guardian in Beijing on June 19 is a significant epic exception.
An endless line of troops is walking forward on the road in the narrow valley, symbolizing the Long March. They go together towards progress. They are guided by the red flag and none of them lost his way at the crossing with another path. Each one carries his rifle. This artwork is estimated RMB 68M, lot 665.
Two artworks from the same year highlighted this series as the masterpieces of Maoist art. Mountains in red, 131 x 84 cm, was sold for RMB 293M including premium by Poly on June 3, 2012. Thousands of mountains in autumn, 76 x 46 cm, was sold for RMB 184M including premium by China Guardian on November 15, 2015 over a lower estimate of RMB 68M.
A black and white 96 x 146 cm drawing made in 1959 by Li Keran on the theme of the Long March through the mountains was sold for RMB 108M including premium by China Guardian on November 22, 2010.
1966 The Splashed Colors of Zhang Daqian
2013 SOLD 72 MHK$ by Sotheby's
Zhang Daqian is recognized as the most outstanding modern Chinese artist, with Qi Baishi as the only possible rival for this assessment. They were able to base their work on traditional Chinese styles while providing a more personalvision, particularly in terms of an expressive use of colors.
Like Pollock and before Richter, Zhang obtained lavish effects by developing a highly original technique. He positioned ink and color by splash. His splashed landscapes are often located, never abstract but also not realistic. He traveled extensively and expressed his memory of the colors of the mountains, often many years later.
In a similar style, Sotheby's sold on May 27, 2013 for HK$ 72M a scenery of Sao Paulo painted in 1966 on paper, 67 x 188 cm, lot 24. It is titled An Invitation to Rusticate. The very elongated composition and the poem in calligraphy are reminiscent of ancient China, but the art of Zhang is one of the first to be admired by both East and West.
Like Pollock and before Richter, Zhang obtained lavish effects by developing a highly original technique. He positioned ink and color by splash. His splashed landscapes are often located, never abstract but also not realistic. He traveled extensively and expressed his memory of the colors of the mountains, often many years later.
In a similar style, Sotheby's sold on May 27, 2013 for HK$ 72M a scenery of Sao Paulo painted in 1966 on paper, 67 x 188 cm, lot 24. It is titled An Invitation to Rusticate. The very elongated composition and the poem in calligraphy are reminiscent of ancient China, but the art of Zhang is one of the first to be admired by both East and West.
1968 Sky Blue over Saturated Orange by Zao Wou-Ki
2018 SOLD for HK$ 69M including premium
After the great volcanic panoramas of the early 1960s, Zao Wou-Ki tries new confrontations of colors. Abstraction becomes total. The illegible black signs continue to sprinkle these compositions, inviting an empathy with the artist by the appreciation of the movement of the wrist, as for calligraphy.
Here are three examples taken from the auction history in which the harmony of hues is positioned in front of a background of a very saturated color.
On a red background, 16.5.66, 195 x 130 cm, was sold for HK $ 80M including premium by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013. On a yellow background, 17.7.67, 130 x 96 cm, was sold for HK $ 40M including premium by Sotheby's on April 2, 2017.
The oil on canvas 82 x 117 cm titled and dated 10.1.68 has already been discussed in this column. It was sold for HK $ 69M including premium by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 3, 2011. It is listed in the same auction room on November 24, lot 133.
A cohort of sky blue clouds pass over the bright orange background, leaving a few gaps and giving rise to small green areas in places. This work without horizon is totally abstract, with an illusion of movement that reminds that the artist, a great friend of the late Edgar Varese, had in that period a strong musical inspiration.
Here are three examples taken from the auction history in which the harmony of hues is positioned in front of a background of a very saturated color.
On a red background, 16.5.66, 195 x 130 cm, was sold for HK $ 80M including premium by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013. On a yellow background, 17.7.67, 130 x 96 cm, was sold for HK $ 40M including premium by Sotheby's on April 2, 2017.
The oil on canvas 82 x 117 cm titled and dated 10.1.68 has already been discussed in this column. It was sold for HK $ 69M including premium by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 3, 2011. It is listed in the same auction room on November 24, lot 133.
A cohort of sky blue clouds pass over the bright orange background, leaving a few gaps and giving rise to small green areas in places. This work without horizon is totally abstract, with an illusion of movement that reminds that the artist, a great friend of the late Edgar Varese, had in that period a strong musical inspiration.
1970 The Loyal Mastiff
2021 SOLD for HK$ 57M including premium
Zhang Daqian loved being surrounded by a wide variety of pets. In 1970, for the first day of the year of the dog, he dedicated to one of his sons-in-law a self portrait with a saint bernard, ink and colors on white paper 176 x 96 cm.
The artist in profile takes on the role of an old scholar in a white robe who studies a hand scroll without worrying about his surroundings. According to his practice throughout his career, this self portrait shows his age without complacency. The loyal dog, upright at his side, waits for the master to pay attention to him.
The preparatory drawing for this composition did not feature a saint bernard but a Tibetan mastiff. In the same size as the New Year's painting, Zhang made at an undetermined date a more achieved work, on gold paper. The drawing is the same, with the loyal mastiff. The dog's fluffy black fur is the highlight of this image, with a great realism. In contrast, the background is painted with the Tang-inspired splash technique.
Painted for his personal use, this self portrait with the mastiff was given to his wife. It is a link between the present, the man in his seventies, and the past, an intelligent and loyal sheepdog named Black Tiger who had not survived the hot and humid climate of southern China 27 years earlier. Zhang, who liked big dogs, had brought back the saint bernard from Switzerland.
The self portrait with a mastiff on gold paper is estimated HK $ 48M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 18, lot 8003
The artist in profile takes on the role of an old scholar in a white robe who studies a hand scroll without worrying about his surroundings. According to his practice throughout his career, this self portrait shows his age without complacency. The loyal dog, upright at his side, waits for the master to pay attention to him.
The preparatory drawing for this composition did not feature a saint bernard but a Tibetan mastiff. In the same size as the New Year's painting, Zhang made at an undetermined date a more achieved work, on gold paper. The drawing is the same, with the loyal mastiff. The dog's fluffy black fur is the highlight of this image, with a great realism. In contrast, the background is painted with the Tang-inspired splash technique.
Painted for his personal use, this self portrait with the mastiff was given to his wife. It is a link between the present, the man in his seventies, and the past, an intelligent and loyal sheepdog named Black Tiger who had not survived the hot and humid climate of southern China 27 years earlier. Zhang, who liked big dogs, had brought back the saint bernard from Switzerland.
The self portrait with a mastiff on gold paper is estimated HK $ 48M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on April 18, lot 8003
1971 An Artist within the Cultural Revolution
2013 SOLD 80 MHK$ including premium
In 1971, the Chinese Cultural Revolution lasted since five years and Chen Yifei was 25. For a young painter, the glorification of the hero is the only possible topic. Chen is one of the most talented artists of his generation : he will not miss it.
His mentors are Soviet Russian, and the influence of Korzhev on Chen is certain. For both artists, the communist flag plays an essential role in the represented theme.
Red Flag is a diptych painted by Chen in 1971 and 1972. One of the elements shows young soldiers in battle, heavily armed. They are active and motivated. This oil on canvas, 300 x 159 cm, numbered Red Flag 1, is estimated HK $ 45M , for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5.
The diptych was separated. Red Flag 2, kept in the Museum of Shanghai, is a lighter composition showing students justifying the intellectual legitimacy of the revolution.
In fact, the transition to modern Chinese painting has begun. Traditionalists resent seeing their young soldiers in battle and not in the glory of a victory already achieved.
Red Flag 1 is an important work in the period of military art from Chen's youth, altogether romantic, realistic and Soviet. For a Western observer, it is indeed a discovery. Freed from the Cultural Revolution, Chen will reach his glory by continuing to stage the young people of his time, but the violin will then supersede the machine gun .
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The importance of this painting was correctly analyzed by Sotheby's. It was sold for HK $ 80 million including premium, beyond its higher estimate.
His mentors are Soviet Russian, and the influence of Korzhev on Chen is certain. For both artists, the communist flag plays an essential role in the represented theme.
Red Flag is a diptych painted by Chen in 1971 and 1972. One of the elements shows young soldiers in battle, heavily armed. They are active and motivated. This oil on canvas, 300 x 159 cm, numbered Red Flag 1, is estimated HK $ 45M , for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5.
The diptych was separated. Red Flag 2, kept in the Museum of Shanghai, is a lighter composition showing students justifying the intellectual legitimacy of the revolution.
In fact, the transition to modern Chinese painting has begun. Traditionalists resent seeing their young soldiers in battle and not in the glory of a victory already achieved.
Red Flag 1 is an important work in the period of military art from Chen's youth, altogether romantic, realistic and Soviet. For a Western observer, it is indeed a discovery. Freed from the Cultural Revolution, Chen will reach his glory by continuing to stage the young people of his time, but the violin will then supersede the machine gun .
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
POST SALE COMMENT
The importance of this painting was correctly analyzed by Sotheby's. It was sold for HK $ 80 million including premium, beyond its higher estimate.
1973 Snow with Mao
2020 SOLD for HK$ 150M including premium
In 1949, when the People's Republic of China was created, Wu Guanzhong was in Paris where he was studying modern art and familiarizing himself with oil painting. His return is enthusiastic : he will be able to bring his new skills to China.
In 1966 the Cultural Revolution prohibited Wu from painting. A little later a rehabilitation was imposed on him. He did not resist, because his ambition was not political. When they needed his art again, in 1972, he took up his brushes again without expressing a grudge.
Chairman Mao is aging and his regime is becoming less restrictive. Wu can now become a resolutely modern artist, through the diversity of his themes, and through his subtle balance between realism and geometry and between traditional Chinese taste and Western pictorial techniques.
An oil on board 72 x 160 cm painted in 1973, a large size for this period, is perhaps a demonstrator of his know-how. As a precaution, its theme is decidedly Maoist. Li Keran, who had also been persecuted by the Cultural Revolution, will soon follow a similar path.
Wu's painting, titled Scenery of North China, is based on Snow, Mao's most famous poem, which begins by glorifying the power of nature before stating that his regime will do better than the greatest emperors. Wu's image is loaded with symbols : the pristine snow covering the mountains, the protective vivacity of the pine, the endless line of the Great Wall. A steam locomotive, which was not foreseen in the poem, illustrates the technical progress.
This painting was sold for HK $ 32M including premium by Christie's on May 27, 2007. It will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5, lot 1013.
In 1979 Wu was one of the artists commissioned to paint the wall decorations of the Beijing airport. He made a 6 m wide version of this landscape which was still politically correct, three years after the death of the Great Helmsman.
In 1966 the Cultural Revolution prohibited Wu from painting. A little later a rehabilitation was imposed on him. He did not resist, because his ambition was not political. When they needed his art again, in 1972, he took up his brushes again without expressing a grudge.
Chairman Mao is aging and his regime is becoming less restrictive. Wu can now become a resolutely modern artist, through the diversity of his themes, and through his subtle balance between realism and geometry and between traditional Chinese taste and Western pictorial techniques.
An oil on board 72 x 160 cm painted in 1973, a large size for this period, is perhaps a demonstrator of his know-how. As a precaution, its theme is decidedly Maoist. Li Keran, who had also been persecuted by the Cultural Revolution, will soon follow a similar path.
Wu's painting, titled Scenery of North China, is based on Snow, Mao's most famous poem, which begins by glorifying the power of nature before stating that his regime will do better than the greatest emperors. Wu's image is loaded with symbols : the pristine snow covering the mountains, the protective vivacity of the pine, the endless line of the Great Wall. A steam locomotive, which was not foreseen in the poem, illustrates the technical progress.
This painting was sold for HK $ 32M including premium by Christie's on May 27, 2007. It will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5, lot 1013.
In 1979 Wu was one of the artists commissioned to paint the wall decorations of the Beijing airport. He made a 6 m wide version of this landscape which was still politically correct, three years after the death of the Great Helmsman.
1973 Plum Blossoms by Wu Guanzhong
2022 sold for hk$ 104M by Sotheby's
Wu Guanzhong is an intellectual directly targeted by the Cultural Revolution of 1966. Exiled for hard labor in the countryside, he has no right to paint or to teach art.
His regime softens in 1972. Wu partially resumes his activity, taking his models from nature with a surprising optimism. He loves his country but his inspiration is global. He deliberately forgets the vexations.
Plum blossoms, oil on canvas 90 x 70 cm mounted on board, painted in 1973 during a short stay in Beijing, is a masterpiece of his restarting period. This painting was sold by Sotheby's for HK $ 67M on April 4, 2015, lot 1006 and for HK $ 104M on April 27, 2022, lot 1038. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In this painting, Wu captures the utter joy offered by the rebirth of spring. Butterflies circle around the tree in full bloom.
Oil on canvas is a Western technique. The domination of color is influenced by both French impressionism and American abstract expressionism but the delicate restraining of the hues avoiding any saturation is Asian. The blooming tree is a prime concern in Chinese lifestyle and the meticulously repeated details got their inspiration in the old masters.
His regime softens in 1972. Wu partially resumes his activity, taking his models from nature with a surprising optimism. He loves his country but his inspiration is global. He deliberately forgets the vexations.
Plum blossoms, oil on canvas 90 x 70 cm mounted on board, painted in 1973 during a short stay in Beijing, is a masterpiece of his restarting period. This painting was sold by Sotheby's for HK $ 67M on April 4, 2015, lot 1006 and for HK $ 104M on April 27, 2022, lot 1038. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In this painting, Wu captures the utter joy offered by the rebirth of spring. Butterflies circle around the tree in full bloom.
Oil on canvas is a Western technique. The domination of color is influenced by both French impressionism and American abstract expressionism but the delicate restraining of the hues avoiding any saturation is Asian. The blooming tree is a prime concern in Chinese lifestyle and the meticulously repeated details got their inspiration in the old masters.
1975 The Clouds of Kilimanjaro
2017 SOLD for RMB 32M including premium
On June 2, 2010 in Beijing, Poly Auction devoted a sale session to the evolution of the landscape in the art of Wu Guanzhong spanning 1975 to 1994.
During these twenty years of great creativity of the artist, the drawing is at first realistic, based on a bold setting and on bright colors. Over time a growing interest in composition and geometry leads Wu up to the abstract landscape. The best result from that group, RMB 28M including premium, was recorded on an ink on paper 124 x 124 cm made in 1990 on the theme of the Grand Canyon in America.
I had chosen in 2010 to discuss the earliest artwork, Mount Kilimanjaro, an oil on canvas 100 x 180 cm painted in 1975, which fetched RMB 20M including premium. It is for sale by the same auction house on June 4, lot 4554 estimated RMB 28M.
Wu had completed in 1972 his three years of hard labor during which he had prudently destroyed most of his own work. Returning to full freedom in the following year, he immediately endeavored to redefine modern art by jointly improving his practice of ink on paper and of oil on canvas.
In 1975 his personal situation was completely restored to the point that he was participating in a delegation in Africa to set up the Chinese plant in charge of building the new railway line between Tanzania and Zambia. His contribution consisted of painting for the factory offices a view of each of the two most spectacular sites in East Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Victoria Falls both of which he had not visited however.
He imagined showing the famous snowy summit of the Kilimanjaro emerging over a thick sea of clouds. The clouds covering most of the image hide the valley, leaving a question about the altitude and thus reinforcing the mystical majesty of this mountain.
In the same size his painting of the Falls was sold for RMB 30.8M including premium by Poly in the 2009 autumn sales.
During these twenty years of great creativity of the artist, the drawing is at first realistic, based on a bold setting and on bright colors. Over time a growing interest in composition and geometry leads Wu up to the abstract landscape. The best result from that group, RMB 28M including premium, was recorded on an ink on paper 124 x 124 cm made in 1990 on the theme of the Grand Canyon in America.
I had chosen in 2010 to discuss the earliest artwork, Mount Kilimanjaro, an oil on canvas 100 x 180 cm painted in 1975, which fetched RMB 20M including premium. It is for sale by the same auction house on June 4, lot 4554 estimated RMB 28M.
Wu had completed in 1972 his three years of hard labor during which he had prudently destroyed most of his own work. Returning to full freedom in the following year, he immediately endeavored to redefine modern art by jointly improving his practice of ink on paper and of oil on canvas.
In 1975 his personal situation was completely restored to the point that he was participating in a delegation in Africa to set up the Chinese plant in charge of building the new railway line between Tanzania and Zambia. His contribution consisted of painting for the factory offices a view of each of the two most spectacular sites in East Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Victoria Falls both of which he had not visited however.
He imagined showing the famous snowy summit of the Kilimanjaro emerging over a thick sea of clouds. The clouds covering most of the image hide the valley, leaving a question about the altitude and thus reinforcing the mystical majesty of this mountain.
In the same size his painting of the Falls was sold for RMB 30.8M including premium by Poly in the 2009 autumn sales.
1977 The Hometown of the Mentor
2016 SOLD for HK$ 40M including premium
Lu Xun was a dissident writer. Influenced by Western cultures, he wished China's entry into the modern world and fought the sterile traditions. He loved his hometown of Shaoxing, with its small white houses in the narrow streets and with its boats that glide on lakes and canals like gondolas in Venice.
Wu Guanzhong was 17 when Lu Xun died of tuberculosis in 1936. He could not have the opportunity of a direct meeting with the polemicist but this mentor was to influence his remarkable artistic career. Wu knew to resist the political persecution and to introduce the techniques and styles of the West into the Chinese art world.
One of Wu's specialties was the landscape, away from traditional Chinese art by a compliance to perspective, the observation of the geometrical structure and the use of oil paint. Compared to Europeans, he brings the Chinese taste for sharp lines and brightly contrasting colors.
Wu was also a provincial, born in Yixing in the Yangzi Delta. In 1974, a government commission shared with three other artists to illustrate the scenery along that river is a proof of his return to favor.
The similarities between Shaoxing and Yixing are delighting Wu, excited to realize a landscape painting in honor to Lu Xun. Wu climbs a hill above Shaoxing and chooses a bird's view of an island accessible by boat that has retained its authenticity. A study in oil on board 46 x 61 cm painted in 1977 is estimated HK $ 30M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 2, lot 1024.
Beyond a scenery Wu wished to express the human life. Shaoxing is enlivened in this painting by the presence of small colored spots and a few boats. His views of traditional villages are highly appreciated. The Zhou Village inscribed in a bold oval was sold for HK $ 236M including premium by Poly in April 2016.
Wu Guanzhong was 17 when Lu Xun died of tuberculosis in 1936. He could not have the opportunity of a direct meeting with the polemicist but this mentor was to influence his remarkable artistic career. Wu knew to resist the political persecution and to introduce the techniques and styles of the West into the Chinese art world.
One of Wu's specialties was the landscape, away from traditional Chinese art by a compliance to perspective, the observation of the geometrical structure and the use of oil paint. Compared to Europeans, he brings the Chinese taste for sharp lines and brightly contrasting colors.
Wu was also a provincial, born in Yixing in the Yangzi Delta. In 1974, a government commission shared with three other artists to illustrate the scenery along that river is a proof of his return to favor.
The similarities between Shaoxing and Yixing are delighting Wu, excited to realize a landscape painting in honor to Lu Xun. Wu climbs a hill above Shaoxing and chooses a bird's view of an island accessible by boat that has retained its authenticity. A study in oil on board 46 x 61 cm painted in 1977 is estimated HK $ 30M for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 2, lot 1024.
Beyond a scenery Wu wished to express the human life. Shaoxing is enlivened in this painting by the presence of small colored spots and a few boats. His views of traditional villages are highly appreciated. The Zhou Village inscribed in a bold oval was sold for HK $ 236M including premium by Poly in April 2016.
