Hong Kong spring sales, which usually take place in around April to May, are now postponed to July due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. This season, Phillips will present two masterpieces by abstract master Zao Wou-Ki, both from the artist’s Hurricane Period, at its 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 8 July. These two artworks could fetch in excess of HK$83m (US$10.7m) in total.
Zao Wou-Ki’s 24.10.63. Estimate: HK$45,000,000 - 65,000,000
Abstract master Zao Wou-Ki
Zao Wou-K first visited New York in 1957 during a trip with French artist Pierre Soulages. He was soon inspired by the place, where it marks the beginning of a new phase in his artistic journey. He was influenced by some of the Abstract Expressionist painters there, which caused him to develop a bolder style and master bigger canvases. Zao Wou-Ki's works from this period not only reflect the influence of Western Abstract Expressionism but also harken back to the aesthetics of traditional Chinese art. He started to transition to a more purely abstract style between his Oracle Bone period (1954-1959) and the peak of his Hurricane period (1959-1972).
The works from Zao Wou-Ki’s Hurricane Period were often characterized by a central-axis composition. The artist segmented the composition by geometric shapes, such that the background was split into two large spaces, the colours in intense contrast. Zao’s singular skill in composition is also reflected in both 22.6.63 and 24.10.63. The vertical format heightens the sense of compression, whilst interwoven oil pigmented splashes and strokes, full of visual agitation, add to the sense of strong motion and energy trapped within the monumental space.
Zao Wou-Ki’s 22.6.63. Estimate: HK$38,000,000 - 58,000,000
22.6.63 measures 146 x 89 cm. The inky-black brushstrokes leaden against a crimson red background convey a thriving, pulsating latent energy beneath the surface of the canvas; whilst in 24.10.63, 194 x 97 cm, sparse flying brushstrokes in stark black and brown hues are contrasted with one defiant scarlet red smudge.
22.6.63 and 24.10.63 both passed through the hands of the famous art dealer Samuel Kootz, with whom Zao Wou-Ki had signed a contract in November 1957. Kootz was instrumental in encouraging Zao to create large-format paintings in order to explore the Hurricanes in an unbridled way, and not to be limited to smaller canvases.
Samuel Kootz, Founder of Kootz Gallery
Kootz Gallery held the first post-World War II retrospective of Picasso in 1947
Samuel Kootz was a New York art dealer and early champion of the Abstract Expressionist school that brought international fame to American painting. He opened his first gallery with his wife in 1945 with a show of works by Motherwell, Baziotes, Fernand Leger, Carl Holty and Fritz Glarner. The Kootz Gallery (operational 1945-1966) was the first to show the Abstract Expressionist painters as a school. It also offered the first post-World War II retrospective of Picasso in 1947.
Over 20 large-panelled works which passed through the Kootz Gallery have come to auction, whilst the majority remain in private or museum collections. For example, Zao Wou-Ki’s Untitled that sold at auction for HK$115.9m (US$14.77m) had been kept in the collection of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for six decades. The painting was initially presented by the Kootz Gallery, which sold it to Samuel I. Rosenman (1896-1973), the first White House Counsel.
The Snite Museum of Art
Phillips Hong Kong’s spring sales schedule
Kootz promoted Zao Wou-Ki’s work in the USA every year until the gallery’s closure in 1966. Upon signing him, Kootz expanded his network and sold to new collectors, such as Walter Beardsley, the first owner of these two paintings. Beardsley was an avid art collector who amassed a world-class collection of modern art. Throughout his lifetime Walter Beardsley donated many of his artworks to the Snite Museum of Art, including O’Keeffe’s painting Blue I (1958) and Tamayo’s Man and His Guitar (1959), which renamed one of its galleries the ‘Walter R. Beardsley Gallery of 20th- and 21st-Century Art’ in his honour.
22.6.63 and 24.10.63 were previously sold in the late 1970s and 2005. They reappear in the market after being kept in the same collection for 15 years. They will go under the hammer at Phillips’ 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale on 8 July. 22.6.63 is estimated at HK$38m-58m and 24.10.63 is estimated at HK$45m-65m
Zao Wou-Ki. 24.10.63. Oil on canvas
Created in: 1963
Size: 194 x 97cm
Provenance
- Kootz Gallery, New York
- Collection of Walter R. Beardsley, United States (acquired from the above)
- Corporate Collection, United States (acquired from the above circa 1978)
- Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2005
Estimate: HK$45,000,000 - 65,000,000
Zao Wou-Ki. 22.6.63. Oil on canvas
Created in: 1963
Size: 146 x 89cm
Provenance
- Kootz Gallery, New York
- Collection of Walter R. Beardsley, United States (acquired from the above)
- Corporate Collection, United States (acquired from the above circa 1978)
- Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2005
Estimate: HK$38,000,000 - 58,000,000
Auction Details
Auction house: Phillips Hong Kong
Sale: 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Auction venue: JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, 88 Queensway, Admiralty
Hong Kong preview: 4-7 July 2020
Auction: 8 July 2020