Sotheby’s Hong Kong started its autumn sales season with a phenomenal Modern Art Evening Sale. The sale achieved 90% sold by lots, with twelve lots sold for more than HK$10m. The two-hour sale realised a total of remarkable HK$1.1 billion, in which nearly HK$700m were contributed by Chinese abstract painter Zao Wou-ki.
Before the sale started
Zao Wou-ki’s Spirits was bought-in
The sale was kicked off by offering lot no. 1, Spirits, a small-scale watercolour on paper by Zao Wou-ki. The highest bid received was even below the low estimate HK$2m so the painting was bought-in. Though the sale got off on the wrong foot, it didn’t affect the enthusiasm of bidders.
Zao Wou-ki
15.12.60
15.12.60
Lot no.3 of the sale was 15.12.60 from Zao Wou-ki's Hurricane Period (1959-1972), the artist's crucial transition towards a more grand and majestic style. What he created on the work is a union of empty and full: a poetic tableau in which shades of red, black, and white blend together like sky and sea. The painting was estimated at HK$18m-28m.
The bidding started at HK$15m and soon turned into a bidding battle between room bidders and telephone bidders. They showed no hesitation in offering higher bids. The price soon rose up to HK$25m after two bid increments. After a total of 14 bids, the auctioneer knocked down the hammer at HK$41m and sold the painting for HK$48.6m (premium included) to a gentleman in the room.
Juin-Octobre 1985 became most valuable oil painting by an Asian artist
The bidding of Juin-Octobre 1985 was the climax of the sale
It followed by Juin-Octobre 1985, the largest painting by Zao Wou-ki. The auctioneer started the bidding at HK$300m and put the hammer down at HK$450m. The painting was sold for HK$510m after premium, setting the record for the most valuable painting sold in Hong Kong auctions, as well as the auction record for an oil painting by an Asian artist. (More details about how Juin-Octobre 1985 broke the record for an oil painting by an Asian artist.)
23.05.64
The next painting was another work from Zao Wou-ki’s Hurricane Period (1959-1972). Measuring 200 x 162cm, 23.05.64 invokes the boundless vision of the large-scale Chinese scrolls from antiquity. The prodigious amber background echoes the brown colour tones from classical oil paintings, its colours flowing in distinct layers, fully expressing the Chinese calligraphy technique of ink gradations.
The painting was hammered down at HK$78m and sold for HK$90.4m, becoming the second most expensive painting at the sale. 23.05.64 and15.12.60 were both sold for a high price, showing how the market’s preference over Zao Wou-ki’s work from the 60s.
Chinese abstract master Chu Teh-chun
No. 268
No. 268
The painting was sold to the client represented by Vinci Chang (one with the paddle)
The second climax of the sale fell to Chu Teh-chun, also a Chinese abstract painter. The present lot, being three-metre wide, is the largest single canvas painting out of his entire body of work. In No. 268, the artist displayed his spiritual responses and enlightenment subsequent to his expansive tour around the French Alps. Influenced by the abstractionist movement at the time, he named most of his works with numbers instead of titles. The painting was estimated at HK$50m-70m.
The bidding was mainly a duel between the two telephone bidders represented by Vinci Chang, Sotheby’s Head of Modern Asian Art and Felix Kwok, Senior Specialist of Modern Asian Art. After an interest bidding battle, the painting was hammered down at HK$65m and sold for HK$75.7m to the Vinci Chang’s client.
Sanyu is often referred to as “The Chinese Matisse”
Pot De Pivoines
Pot De Pivoines
The painting was sold to the client represented by Kevin Ching (with his hand raised)
The fourth and fifth top lots of the sale were presented in the middle section of the sale. Pot De Pivoines was created by Sanyu, who is often referred to as “The Chinese Matisse”. The bidding started at HK$35m and soon became a contest between Kevin Ching, Sotheby’s CEO Asia and Wendy Lin, Sotheby’s Managing Director, Taiwan, who were competing for their telephone clients. The painting was finally hammered down after a back-and-forth of about 20 bids. Kevin Ching’s telephone bidder took home with the painting for HK$68.9m (premium included).
Nudes, flowers and animals are three main subjects in Sanyu’s paintings. They are more than just three types of subjects being depicted; they also reflect the artist’s three drastically different attitudes: Sanyu’s nude paintings express an honest, direct erotic humour, a primitive love and desire of men; in his animal paintings, he roamed within a free and boundless domain like a philosopher; when he drew flowers, he became a lyrical poet, gently singing an ode to the sentiments in life.
Pablo Picasso
Buste D'homme Lauré
Buste D'homme Lauré
Ranked in the fifth place at the sale was Picasso’s Buste D'homme Lauré, painted during Picasso’s most prolific year, 1969, during which he seemed to not at all be affected by his advanced age but rather invigorated by his vast experience. For Picasso, the musketeer signified the golden age of painting, and allowed him to escape the limitations of contemporary subject matter and explore the spirit of a past age.
Estimated at HK$50m-70m, Buste D'homme Lauré was hammered down at HK$52m and sold for HK$61m to a telephone bidder.
Zao Wou-ki
Only five among all 50 lots offered were bought-in. The sale realised a total of HK$1.1 billion, in which HK$699m (nearly 64% of the sale total) were contributed by Zao Wou-ki works. This is not an overstatement to say this Modern Art Evening Sale is more like an evening sale dedicated to Zao Wou-ki.
Lots sold for more than HK$10m
Zao Wou-ki (1921-2013). Juin-Octobre 1985.
Lot no.: 1004
Created in: 1985
Size: 280 x 1,000cm
Provenance:
- Raffles City Collection, Singapore
- Christie’s, Hong Kong, 29 May 2005, Lot 241
- Important Private Asian Collection
Estimate: HK$350,000,000
Price realised: HK$510,371,000
Zao Wou-ki (1921-2013). 23.05.64.
Lot no.: 1005
Created in: 1964
Size: 200 x 162cm
Provenance:
- Kootz Gallery, New York
- Galerie Thierry Salvador, Paris
- Briest, Paris, 30 May 1991, Lot 37B
- Private European Collection
- Calmels, Chambre, Cohen, Paris, 15 December 2000, Lot 106
- Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector
Estimate: HK$80,000,000 - 120,000,000
Price realised: HK$90,383,000
Chu Teh-chun (1920-2014). No. 268
Lot no.: 1009
Created in: 1964
Size: 150.2 x 300.5cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Maison de la Culture, Société des Eaux, Marseille
- Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 7 April 2007, Lot 8
- Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector
Estimate: HK$50,000,000 - 70,000,000
Price realised: HK$90,383,000
Sanyu (1901-1966). Pot De Pivoines.
Lot no.: 1032
Created in: 1940-50s
Size: 79.5 x 65cm
Provenance:
- Collection of Monsieur Jacques Oettinger and Madame Denyse Oettinger (Gift of the artist in 1962)
- Thence by descent to the Oettinger family
- Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 6 April 2009, Lot 525
- Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector
Estimate: HK$45,000,000 - 55,000,000
Price realised: HK$68,932,000
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Buste D'homme Lauré
Lot no.: 1031
Created in: 1969
Size: 116 x 89cm
Provenance:
- Estate of the artist
- Collection of Bernard Ruiz Picasso, Paris
- Collection Heinz Berggruen
- Acquired from the above by the present important private European collector
Estimate: HK$50,000,000 - 70,000,000
Price realised: HK$61,029,000
Zao Wou-ki (1921-2013). 15.12.60
Lot no.: 1003
Created in: 1960
Size: 130 x 96.5cm
Provenance:
- Kootz Gallery, New York
- Acquired directly from the above by the present important private American collector in 1961
Estimate: HK$18,000,000 - 28,000,000
Price realised: HK$48,610,000
Zao Wou-ki (1921-2013). 25.02.65
Lot no.: 1017
Created in: 1965
Size: 81 x 116cm
Provenance:
- Galerie de France, Paris
- Kunstforum, Schelderode
- Acquired directly from the above by the family of the former owner in the 1960s
- Christie's, Paris, 2 December 2014, Lot 9
- Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector
Estimate: HK$24,000,000 - 34,000,000
Price realised: HK$28,920,000
Wu Guanzhong (1919 – 2010). Sunshine After Snow in the Mountain Village I
Lot no.: 1030
Created in: 1964
Size: 61.2 x 46cm
Provenance: Important Private Asian Collection
Estimate: HK$7,000,000 - 15,000,000
Price realised: HK$22,920,000
Chu Teh-chun (1920-2014). No. 629
Lot no.: 1010
Created in: 1968
Size: 92 x 72cm
Provenance:
- Private European Collection
- Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 9 April 2008, Lot 822
- Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector
Estimate: HK$18,000,000 - 26,000,000
Price realised: HK$21,720,000
Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès (1880-1958). Around the Lotus Pond.
Lot no.: 1012A
Size: 101 x 120.5cm
Provenance:
- Acquired directly from the artist at his Bali Estate
- Private Collection, California, USA
- Christie's Hong Kong, 26 May 2012, Lot 2012
- Acquired by the present owner from the above sale
- Private Asian Collection
Estimate upon request
Price realised: HK$20,520,000
Zao Wou-ki (1921-2013). 09.05.61
Lot no.: 1029
Created in: 1961
Size: 60 x 81cm
Provenance:
- Acquired directly from the artist by the original owner
- Christie’s, Hong Kong, 25 May 2013, Lot 4
- Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector
Estimate: HK$13,000,000 - 20,000,000
Price realised: HK$13,920,000
Wu Dayu (1903-1988). Untitled
Lot no.: 1015
Size: 64 x 45cm
Provenance: Important Private Asian Collection
Estimate: HK$6,000,000 - 10,000,000
Price realised: HK$13,320,000
Auction summary
Auction house: Sotheby’s Hong Kong
Sale: Modern Art Evening Sale
Sale date: 30 September 2018
Lots offered: 50
Sold: 45
Unsold: 5
Sold by lot: 90%
Sale total: HK$1,109,363,500