Auctions / Gallery Shows 19 Auction Reviews SOTHEBY’S


HONG KONG 29 September to 3 October


Sotheby’s Hong Kong achieved strong sales in this autumn series, with the grand total achieving HK$3.15 billion (US$404 million), against pre-sale estimates of HK$2.4 billion (US$309 million). Mainland China, was again key to the auctions success, including new world auction records (see cover story this issue) and many new auction records for Asian artists. Te world auction record for Chinese ceramics was given to the rare ru guanyao brush washer from the Northern Song dynasty, which sold for HK$294.3 million (see cover) and the world auction record for a jade carving was achieved by an imperial white jade and cloisonné enamel ram-head teapot and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, which sold for HK$75.5 million. Te 14 artists records set were for Yun Gee, Wang Jangeng, Hsiao Chin, Li Yuan-Chia, Azuma Kenjiro, Liang Yuanwei, Uemae Chiyu, Park Seobo, Masanobu Masatoshi, Morita Shiryu, KAWS, Nguyen Gia Tri, Inoue Yuichi and


White jade and cloisonné enamel ream-head teapot and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, height 18.5 cm, sold for HK$75.5 million (est HK$20/30 million), Sotheby’s


Deng Fen. Most of the artists’ records


Magnificent Mountains with Gushy Cascades (1978) by Li Keran, ink and colour on paper, hanging scroll, 171 x 94 cm, sold for HK$122 million (est on request), Sotheby’s


came from the Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, with 93% lots sold (and 100% sales for Modern Asian Art and Western Art) with the total evening sales achieving HK$710 million. Yun Gee’s Wheels: Industrial New York, an oil on canvas, sold for HK$105 million (est HK$80/120,000). Tis painting, over 2 metres tall, was originally created for the reopening show at MoMA in New York in 1932. At the Fine Chinese Paintings sale Li Keran’s Magnificent Mountains with Gushy Cascades sold for HK$122 million (est on request). Tis large painting is considered the magnum opus of Li’s landscape paintings and was completed in 1978. Contemporary Ink Art, Confluence, one of the season’s thematic sales, was aimed at a more international market and the sale achieved this by having over 20% of the lots being bought by collectors outside Asia. Private collectors continue to take the lead in this area of the market. A highlight of the sale was Yume (Dream), from 1966, by the Japanese artist Inoue Yichi (1916-1984), which nearly quadrupled its pre-sale estimate and sold for HK$1.5 million, which brought a world auction record for the artist. Te top lot of the sale was Garden (2011) by Li Jen, which sold for HK$2 million.


At the same sale, Trekking Over Mountains in Moonlight by Fu Baoshi tripled its high estimate and achieved HK$93 million. High prices were achieved in the Classical Chinese Paintings sale, which totalled HK$120 million was dominated by Asian private buyers. Te top lot,Letter to Boqing by Zhang Yu sold above estimate for HK$26.5 million (est HK$16/20 million). Works by Tang Yin and Wen Zhengming were also in demand.


Te inaugural sale of Himalayan and Chinese Buddhist Works of Art, Heart of Tantra, Buddhist Art Including Property from the Nyingjei Lam Collection sold 30 out of the 50 lots and this area will grow in popularity as it seems more and more Chinese buyers are putting their money into other areas of Asian art as Chinese ceramics, paintings and contemporary art is now such a well-beaten path. Bonhams Hong Kong, also held a sale of Buddhist art, Images of Devotion, on 3 October and are also looking for new buyers in a new region for Buddhist (and not necessarily Chinese) art. Back at Sotheby’s, there seems to be increasing confidence in buying high-worth lots online. In this series of sales, Sotheby’s noted that 12% of all lots sold to online buyers and that there is a 25% increase, year-on-year in the number of registered online bidders.


Amazon (2017), mixed media, 96.5 x 81.2 x 38.1 cm


Tis is the first solo exhibition of this Iranian-American artist in the UK and features eight new sculptures made from the artist’s signature combination of steel, chain, and mesh illuminated by light, along with 10 drawings on which they were based. Spurred by the continued fight for women’s rights as well as by the current socio-political climate in both the USA where she resides and in her native Middle East, Amighi’s new works explore ideas of femininity through a series of archetypes of female figures from


AFRUZ AMIGHI Echo’s Chamber


history as well as the artist’s personal experience. Architecture in its various


expressions is a medium for Amighi to investigate the way in which humans across cultures and ages build places which reflect common ideals and aesthetic values in spite of the complexity and precariousness of society. With these sources in mind, Amighi welds common materials such as steel, chain, and mesh into delicate wall sculptures that belie the strength of their industrial components. When illuminated, the sculptures create a wall of shadows, reflecting and magnifying the intricate patterns in a play of light and dark on the walls. Te exhibition’s title embodies this reflective ‘echo’ while also recalling the Greek myth of Echo and Narcissus. Amighi is interested in the contradictory nature of Echo being used as a symbol of womankind; while Echo can only repeat what is being said by others, her voice is nonetheless heard repeatedly and endlessly, and cannot be silenced. • From 24 November to 13 January at Sophia Contemporary Gallery, 11 Grosvenor Street, London, sophiacontemporary.com


TWO MODERNS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST Reza Derakshani and Alfred Basbous


A letter to Boqing by Zhang Ui, ink on paper, framed, sold for HK$26.5 million (est HK$16/20 million), Sotheby’s


For their first curatorial show in Asia this autumn, Arianne Levene Piper and Eglantine de Ganay-d’Espous are showing two artists from the Middle East in a show at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery. Reza Derakshani was born in Sangsar, in the northeast of Iran, where his birthplace deeply influences his art. He grew up in a great black tent on the top of a mountain, among horses and fields of blue and yellow wild flowers. Derakshani developed from the study of constellations of light created by the moonlight shining through tiny holes in the tent to the study of mathematics in high school, and visual arts in Tehran and the USA. Derakshani’s life work is impressive in its range of media and techniques, his passionate unleashing of creative energies through multiple venues of artistic expression including sculpture and photography and music. Alfred Basbous (1924-2006) was


born in Rachana, Lebanon. His first exhibition in Beirut, at the Alecco Saab gallery in 1958, marked the beginning of his success and introduced him into the world of sculpture. In 1960, he received a scholarship from the French


Couple (2002) by Alfred Basbous, bronze, 66 x 28 x 20 cm, edition 5/12


Wheels: Industrial New York (1932) by Yun Gee, oil on canvas, 214 x 122 cm, sold for HK$105 million (est HK$80/120 million), Sotheby’s


Garden Party (2017) by Reza Derakshani, oil on canvas, 198 x 178 cm


Yume (Dream), from 1966 by Inoue Youchi, ink on paper, 125 x 218 cm, sold for HK$ (est HK$400/600,000), Sotheby’s


government and became a pupil of the sculptor ‘Te National Fine Arts School in Paris’ (L’Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris). From 1994 to 2004, Basbous organised the International Symposium of Sculpture in Rachana, Lebanon, where famous sculptors from around the world were invited to create, sculpt and exhibit their works alongside his own. His works express a lifelong exploration of the human form and its abstract properties. Focused on the aesthetic principles of shape, movement, line and material his sculptures display a deeply ingrained sincerity and a search for the essence of beauty. Working in the tradition of sculptors such as Auguste Rodin, Jean Harp and Henry Moore, the artist explores the potential of materials such as bronze, wood and marble to express the sensuality and purity of the human form. • From 3 to 17 November, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery, 5/F One Pacific Place, Hong Kong, sothebys.com


NOVEMBER 2017 ASIAN ART


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