Live Auction:

Fine Chinese Modern and Contemporary Ink Paintings | 2 December

Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy | 3 December

Previews:

Taipei | 22 – 23 October

Beijing | 7 – 8 November

Shanghai | 11 – 13 November

Hong Kong | 25 November – 2 December

HONG KONG – This November, Christie’s Hong Kong is pleased to present a spectacular array of Chinese paintings by iconic masters from important private collections, including works of exceptional provenance across centuries. Led by Lotus, a monumental gold folding screen, by Zhang Daqian (Estimate: HK$16,000,000 – 26,000,000), the Fine Chinese Modern and Contemporary Ink Paintings sale on 2 December will also feature Important Huang Binhong Paintings And Calligraphy From The Xicha’an Collection, alongside rare works by Wu Guanzhong, Lin Fengmian and other important artists. Meanwhile, A Tranquil Place by Shen Zhou (2nd row above; estimate: HK$12,000,000 – 20,000,000) and Landscape after the Four Yuan Masters by Qian Weicheng (3rd row above; estimate: HK$8,000,000 –10,000,000) will lead the Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy sale on 3 December.

This season, the top highlight of the Fine Chinese Modern and Contemporary Ink Paintings sale is Chinese modern ink master Zhang Daqian’s Lotus, a monumental gold folding screen (image above). It features the elegant lotuses on the pond, a recurring theme of Zhang’s, and a rare gilded gold screen handmade in Japan. The screen was dedicated to Zeng Xianqi (1919-2000), a Chinese American art historian who worked at the Boston Museum of Fine Art. Two more exceptional lots by Zhang Daqian from the 1960s are offered in this sale. Zhang’s splashed-colour landscape Pavilion on Emerald Hills from The Collection of internationally-renowned Chinese-American photographer Richard Yee was showcased in the Modern Chinese Brushwork: Water Ink, Calligraphy, Watercolour exhibition at The Wustum Museum of Fine Art in Racine, Wisconsin in 1967; and Lotus from The Collection of Director Chor Yuen and Nam Hung, which the artist gifted and dedicated to Nam Hung, was cherished by family for over half a century.

Important Huang Binhong Paintings And Calligraphy From The Xicha’an Collection will also be presented in the sale, including five paintings and calligraphy works. All dedicated to Yang Zuofu, these works reveal the close friendship between the artist and the collector. As a prominent Hong Kong collector passionate about literature and Chinese paintings, Yang was a key figure in the local art and cultural circle. He named his study Xicha’an to express his appreciation of the tranquil life of the literati. Having been in the Yang’s collection for over eight decades, the collection comes to the auction market for the first time. The sale also includes a wide selection of fine works by Wu Guanzhong, Lin Fengmian and Xu Beihong from private collections in North America, Southeast Asia among other places.

A highlight of Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy sale, A Tranquil Place by Shen Zhou (image below) was previously in the Guo Yun Lou Collection and Zhuang Tao Ge Collection, and was recorded in Collection of Chinese Paintings in 1936. Peaceful and reserved, this legendary handscroll perfectly captures Zhou's signature style and his longing for a tranquil and secluded life. Through his powerful and subtle brushstrokes and the calligraphy of Ming master Zhu Yunming, the painting reflects the resonances between the two artists in terms of their views of life and art. Another leading lot is Landscape after the Four Yuan Masters by Qian Weicheng, the most important scholar-painter of the Qianlong period. The elegant and subtle brushwork is complemented with the inscriptions by Qian Cai, Qian Daxin, Zhao Yi, Peng Yuanrui and other famous scholars, proving that it was regarded as a standard script of calligraphy for poets and literati during the Qianlong period. The sale also includes important Hong Kong private collections by The King Kwei Chen Rentao and He Guanwu, as well as a wide array of paintings and calligraphy by leading Ming artists, including Wen Zhengming, Dong Qichang, Ni Yuanlu, and Wang Duo, as well as unique masterpieces such as Calligraphy in Running Script by Qing Emperor Qianlong.

Notes To Editor

Preview (By appointment only):

Taipei | 22 – 23 October | Taipei Marriott Hotel, No. 199, Lequn 2nd Road, ZhongShan District, Taipei

Beijing | 7 – 8 November | Christie’s Beijing Art Space, No. 82 Jinbao Street, Dong Cheng District, Beijing

Shanghai | 11 -13 November | BUND ONE, 4/F, No.1 Zhongshan Dong Yi Road, Shanghai

Hong Kong | 25 November – 2 December | Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, No. 1 Harbour                     Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong    

Live Auction:

Fine Chinese Modern and Contemporary Ink Paintings

Date : 2 December 2022

Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy

Date : 3 December 2022

Location: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, No. 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Image download: Please click HERE