Rare auction items are landing on the auction stage.
Among the most eye-catching items in this year's Spring Auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong is the Ding kiln large bowl from the collection of Avery Clark. The Ding kiln is known for its elegance and charm, and has historically been classified among China's famous porcelain types. This Ding kiln large bowl for auction features a delicate texture, dignified shape, and beautifully flowing lines inside the bowl, with a soft glaze and a pleasing ivory white color, slightly deeper in color where it gathers like tear stains, having endured the elements for thousands of years, remaining pure and simple as ever. Previously, this Ding kiln large bowl belonged to the renowned collectors Avery and Clark, and has been featured in several important exhibitions. Since its appearance at Sotheby’s London in 1971, it has not been publicly exhibited. The legendary antique dealer Goro Sakamoto acquired this bowl at Sotheby’s London in 1971 and has treasured it for over 40 years.
Collectors familiar with porcelain auctions will note that in the Spring Auction of 2012 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, the Clark couple's collection of Song Dynasty Ru kiln sky blue glazed sunflower wash was sold for HKD 185 million, setting a new record for Ru kiln auctions and increasing industry attention on Song Dynasty porcelain. After all, Ru kiln porcelain from the Song Dynasty is rare, and its leading role in the market is limited. In contrast, Ding kiln porcelain is still somewhat circulated in the current market. At the 2013 Sotheby’s auction in New York, a New York resident found an old Chinese porcelain bowl at a flea market for $3, which sold for $2.23 million (approximately RMB 13.85 million), creating a miracle in the auction world. Although the buyer was the famous antique dealer ESKENAZI, the lack of a clear provenance for this porcelain limited its significance for the market. In contrast, the Ding kiln porcelain being auctioned this time, having been treasured by many renowned collectors, undoubtedly has a significance that ordinary porcelain cannot compare to.
At the Poly Hong Kong Spring Auction 2014, the main themes include stone inscriptions, scholar's objects, and bronze figures, along with the "Sea Meeting Responding to Truth" Buddhist art special session and the "Leopard Change"—a special session of East Asian century-old treasures. Among over 300 exquisite items, each unit features remarkable works: an early Western Zhou bronze vessel with a handle, passed down through collectors such as Zhu Shanqi, Wu Shifen, Wu Dacheng, Luo Zhenyu, Liu Tizhi, etc., can be considered to have a clear provenance. Another bronze gu with the inscription "Yagu Fu Ji" was also included in Huang Bochuan's "Ye Zhong Pian Yu"; the Song Dynasty "Eight Extremes Pull" qin was previously owned by the Lingnan qin master Lu Jiabing, with beautiful broken patterns, complete nine virtues, and has been exhibited multiple times, with publications in qin studies and audio-visual materials.
The traditional calligraphy and painting series is a highlight.
The Poly Hong Kong Spring Auction of Chinese Modern and Contemporary Calligraphy and Painting will present numerous masterpieces from overseas private collections for collectors. Xu Beihong's "Spring River Drinking Horse Painting," created in 1943, was made while Xu was organizing the China Academy of Art in Chongqing and holding a solo exhibition in Chengdu's Shaocheng Park, with his focus still on serving the country and the people, and the national paintings created during this time often carry this meaning. This piece embodies his consistent style, expressed with passion, with ink and wash flowing freely, yet the entire scene is filled with a long-lost tranquility and romantic atmosphere, subtly implying "Spring breeze brings success to the horse's hooves"; a poem inscribed by Guo Moruo on Li Keran's painting "Dongpo Night Tour of Chibi" is a fine piece from his period at Gangpo, with an elegant style that aligns with Keran's advocated philosophy of "the unity of man and nature"; Fu Baoshi's "Thousand Mountains" was created during his sketching in Northeast China, showcasing a distinctive artistic style in the combination of brushwork and landscape composition. Among the three existing works of the same theme, two "Holiday Thousand Mountains" are stored in the Nanjing Museum, making this work an extremely important painting from Fu Baoshi's sketching in Northeast China.
This time also includes several excellent works by Zhang Daqian: the 1966 work "Imitating Lianzhou's North Garden Landscape" is a fine imitation piece, as Daqian imitated countless works of predecessors, but rarely ventured into the "Four Wang Wu Yun"; thus, this imitation of Wang Jian's work is indeed rare; the green and blue landscape "Long Sky Walkway" was a gift from Daqian to He Yingqin, the Commander of the Nationalist Army, depicting the wonders of Mount Hua; and the "Lotus in Pair" uses a combination of strong and soft brushwork, with a carefully crafted composition, representing Daqian's large-scale lotus flower masterpiece.
In addition, many exquisite collections from renowned masters are also available: the "Lu Family Cloud Water" theme includes several late masterpieces by Lu Yanshao, with clouds and water, large areas of blank space, all showcasing his unique techniques; Lin Fengmian's "Still Life" and "Deep Autumn," included in the 2008 Han Mo Xuan's "Fragmented Gold Collection," reflect the master's superb artistic conception of blending traditional Chinese painting techniques with Western Impressionist colors and compositions.
Contemporary highlights are emerging one after another.
This year's Spring Auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong features numerous highlights in contemporary art, continuing to present representative works from important artists while introducing selected works from emerging artists, aiming to expand the collection tastes of a wide range of collectors and inject new energy into the contemporary Asian art sector. In addition, several selected units will fully present the contemporary Asian art landscape, including the focus on important abstract creations by Asian artists in the "Abstract: A Pan-Asian Perspective"; documenting the development of contemporary Chinese photography, covering the photography collection of the Ullens couple in the "Important Contemporary Chinese Photography and Video Works," which is undoubtedly a pioneering effort, and will fully present the development of contemporary Chinese photography from performance documentation to conceptual photography, rediscovering the history of contemporary Chinese photography since the 1990s and witnessing the social changes in China over the past 20 years.
A noteworthy detail is that this time Sotheby’s Hong Kong has expanded the contemporary ink session and renamed it to contemporary literati art. Whether this will become a trend remains to be seen, but at Poly Hong Kong's "Chinese Contemporary Ink" session, adhering to the spirit of constructing the development context and academic sorting of contemporary ink, it will be divided into two sessions during this spring auction: "Chinese Contemporary Classic Ink" and "Chinese Contemporary New Ink." The "Chinese Contemporary Classic Ink" session still inherits from ancient and modern Chinese calligraphy and painting, passing down classic brushwork and works from contemporary art masters of the academic school, such as: Zhou Sicong, Wu Guanzhong, Feng Dazhong, Fan Zeng, etc., as well as outstanding young artists like: Ren Zhong, Fan Yang. The "Chinese Contemporary New Ink" session will continue to recommend ink artists and excellent works that are increasingly emerging in contemporary art, such as artists who have performed well in the art market in recent years: Zhu Xinjian, Xu Lei, Ai Xuan, Li Jin, Qin Ai, Qin Feng, etc., while also introducing key recommended young new ink artists like Hao Liang, Xiao Xu, Huang Dan, Tan Jun.
The focus items of Poly Hong Kong's Spring Auction are concentrated on a batch of important works that possess significant personal characteristics of the artists and characteristics of the times in the development of contemporary art. This includes another important artistic form of color ink calligraphy that witnesses Wu Guanzhong's colorful ink life, a rare large work of 26 square feet titled "Jianghu Tu" by Zhu Xinjian, which has been treasured by collectors for many years, and the brilliant work "Homesick Tune" by artist Xu Lei, who held a solo exhibition at the end of last year, which reflects Xu Lei's unique painting philosophy and artistic techniques. Another highlight is Li Jin's "Food Provider," which, through this type of "food" theme creation, provides viewers with visual enjoyment while also reversing the core spirit of traditional literati painting. It aims to build a comprehensive and clear academic and collection context for the development of contemporary ink based on underestimated prices and diverse exquisite items for a wide range of collectors.
