Phillips’ Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale just passed on 25 November, and across the top-selling lots, Asian artists tended to dominate the auction. One of the most notable pieces was Chinese-French artist Sanyu’s Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II, which sold for HK$42.8 million (around US$5.49 million). The French collector of the piece was also the seller of Sanyu's highest-selling art piece at auction, Five Nudes, back in 2019.
The sale’s top lot was a Yoshitomo Nara painting, Baby Blue, which sold for HK$45.2 million (around US$5.81 million). Another top lot was a Nara sculpture, Fountain of Life, the fifth highest-selling lot of the evening sale. Overall, the auction performed strongly with 20 out of 22 lots sold, making for a 91% sell rate and a sale total of HK$171 million (around US$21.9 million).
Lot 13 | Sanyu | Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II, Oil on masonite
Executed in 1950/1960s
67 x 120 cm
Provenance:
- Hôtel Drouot, Paris
- Jean-François Bideau, Paris
- Jean-Claude Riedel, Paris
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
- Property from the collection of Dr. Eric Edwards, Paris
Estimate on request
Hammer Price: HK$35,000,000
Sold: HK$42,800,000 (around US$5.49 million)
On Sanyu’s Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II, the auctioneer Jonathan Crockett (Phillips' Chairman, Asia), opened the bidding at HK$28 million, an “attractive price,” according to him. Two bids were made, raising the price to HK$30 and then HK$32 million, before a lady on the auction floor with paddle number 668 bid HK$35 million, securing the lot.
The painting belonged to Dr. Eric Edwards, a Parisian dentist whose ancestors once served as dentists to the British Royals. He personally cherished this Sanyu painting for forty years and is a dedicated fan of the artist. Dr. Edwards was also the owner and seller of Sanyu’s famous Five Nudes painting, back in 2019, which went for around HK$38.8 million, making it an artist record, and giving credence to Dr. Edward’s taste in artwork.
Dr. Edwards with Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II in Hong Kong
Dr. Edwards is also generally quite a private person, with there being limited coverage of him and his art collection. However, he visited Hong Kong while previews for this auction were occurring and granted an interview with The Value to discuss his reasoning for collecting Sanyu artwork and his beliefs and philosophy behind his collection.
Dr. Edwards described Sanyu as an “Oriental Matisse,” and his collection of art from the Chinese-French artist began before Sanyu gained fame. Edwards acquired Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II, in 1977, eleven years after the artist’s passing, from Sanyu’s agent and collector, Jean-Claude Riedel. Dr. Edwards was deeply moved by Sanyu’s paintings, and throughout his time collecting Sanyu’s work, he amassed a collection of over 20 pieces during its peak.
Dr. Edwards was also a close friend of Jean-Claude Riedel, and the two would often visit flea markets when the latter was alive. Riedel was also the agent who sold Dr. Edwards the record-setting Five Nudes by Sanyu.
As for collecting art, Dr. Edward has three core philosophies he follows. First, the painting must look good. Second, the painting should touch people's hearts. Finally, the painting must be capable of giving the viewer spiritual satisfaction. Dr. Edward said when he first encountered Sanyu’s work in a gallery, he was shocked and moved, with its simple lines highlighting aspects of traditional Chinese landscape painting, displaying Sanyu’s skill, and integrating Western and Eastern art styles.
Sanyu's Five Nudes, the artist's record-selling piece that was sold by Christie's Hong Kong in 2019
Sanyu was born in Sichuan in 1901 and was born to a wealthy family that supported his artistic interests, with him being supported by them financially when he moved to Paris in the 1920s. However, he was constantly burdened by financial hardships, especially during the wartime years, and postwar his family stopped providing financial aid. Sanyu also didn’t work well with agents or galleries to sell his art, putting him in a difficult position to make money.
Sanyu would eventually end up working in a factory, which turned out to be a creative boon for him as he was exposed to coloring and drawing furniture and lacquerware, inspiring Sanyu to get back into being an artist and inspiring him to combine his Western and Eastern artistic influences, something exhibited by Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II.
The painting integrates Chinese-inspired landscapes behind the figures Sanyu painted, replacing the pink tones that used to dominate Sanyu’s backgrounds. This new inspiration was paired with traces of calligraphy combined with Western modern painting to create these hybrid works. In the specific case of Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II, its creation in the post-war years, Sanyu uses clearly contoured lines to create a clear and sharp contrast with the soothing white background.
Dr. Edwards (second on the right in the back row) is pictured here with Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II having brought it to exhibit in Taipei, circa 1995
Interestingly, it would not be until over two decades after Sanyu’s death that his art became known by the Chinese audience. In 1988, Taipei’s Fine Arts Museum held an exhibit of seven Chinese artists who had gone to France earlier in the century, which included Sanyu’s work.
This was followed up by a 1995 exhibit at the Taipei National Museum of History, which featured the works of both Sanyu and Pan Yuliang, with all of the Sanyu work originating from Dr. Edward’s collection. Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II, was also featured at that exhibit.
As for the auction and Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II high sell price, Dr. Edward commented that he was not surprised. The skill and beauty found in Sanyu’s paintings have and will continue to stand the test of time, according to the doctor.
A photograph of Sanyu
Lot 7 | Yoshitomo Nara | Baby Blue, Acrylic on canvas
Painted in 1999
120 x 110 cm
Provenance:
- Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York
- Private Collection
- Christie's, New York, 9 November, 2005, lot 429
- Private Collection
- Sotheby's, New York, 13 May 2015, lot 451
- Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Estimate: HK$42,000,000 - 62,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$37,000,000
Sold: HK$45,220,000 (around US$5.81 million)
The top-selling lot of the sale was Yoshitomo Nara’s Baby Blue. Bidding opened at HK$26 million, with Deputy Chairwoman and Head of Private Sales Miety Heiden winning the lot on behalf of her client on the other side of the phone with the paddle number 1026. The winning bid was HK$37 million, but after fees, the lot’s winner will pay HK$45.2 million (around US$5.81 million).
This lot was last sold by Sotheby's New York in 2015. Back then it fetched US$2.17 million, meaning that nine years later the lot has more than doubled in value.
Baby Blue seen here being auctioned on the night of the 25 November
Nara’s paintings of “big-headed girls” have traditionally been quite popular with buyers, especially in the Asian market, making him one of Japan’s star artists, alongside the likes of Yayoi Kusama. The girls themselves are not meant to be taken so literally as figures. Instead, according to Nara, the “big-headed girls” represent his own emotions, thoughts, and feelings during different stages of his life when he painted them.
This specific work was painted in the 1990s during a time when Nara was using softer pastels. The girl wears a pistachio-colored baby dress with a white bib. The child's soft smile and wide-eyed expression display emotions of joy, innocence, and mischief. Her hands hidden behind her back imply that she could be hiding something while she stands in a wide, empty background that makes the space around her seem vast and mysterious.
Nara with various paintings of "big-headed girls"
Important to the story of Nara is the change in his artwork, which coincided with his move from Germany and Europe, where he lived from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, to the United States. While in Europe, Nara had started to make a name for himself before going to teach at UCLA in 1998. Throughout this transition, Nara’s work has seemingly gotten softer, with Baby Blue a representation of that.
This work made during the turn of the century is also considered Nara’s most popular period and financially successful. While in the US, Nara met Marianne Boesky, a famous Manhattan art dealer who hosted Nara’s first solo exhibit in New York City at her gallery; Baby Blue was among the works displayed there.
Artwork from this era is highly praised by critics, with them praising how cartoonishly evil some of the children looked and their powerful visual style. They have also done well financially, with the likes of Hothouse Doll (1995), Missing in Action (2000), and the artist’s record-selling painting Knife Behind Back (2000) all coming from this period of time.
Yohistomo Nara | Missing in Action (1995), 165 x 150 cm | Sold for HK$123.7 million (US$15.9 million) by Phillips and Poly (joint auction), 2021
Lot 6 | Yoshitomo Nara | Fountain of Life, Lacquer and urethane on FRP, motor and water
Executed in 2001/2014, this work is edition 2 of 3 plus artist proofs
175 x 180 x 180 cm
Provenance:
- Blum & Poe Gallery, Los Angeles
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
Estimate: HK$8,000,000 - 15,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$8,000,000
Sold: HK$10,130,000 (around US$1.3 million)
Another Nara art piece was sold during the auction, a highly unique sculpture made in 2001 when Nara moved back to Japan from overseas. It was sold for US$10.3 million, and it’s the artist's only work with a mechanical component to it, as it churns out water like an actual fountain would.
In 2000 Nara held a large exhibition in Yokohama that was a celebration anticipating the artist’s return to his home country. Upon his return home, Nara began to think more boldly and alternatively, leading to strange works such as Fountain of Life that are distinctly unique from his other pieces of art.
Like a lot of his other works, children are the core vehicle from which Nara’s thoughts and feelings are represented on this mechanical statue. Fountain of Life is described as a seminal work due to the way it represents Nara’s bold exploration of the ideas of youth, innocence, and vulnerability. A surface-level look at the statue makes it appear soft, gentle, and almost innocent. The playful nature of the fountain ties it all together as it invites the audience to gaze upon a fun work steeped in ideas of childhood.
This work is also rooted deeply in Nara’s complex childhood, as the work also represents transience and sadness during the fleeting nature of youth. As such, it can be interpreted as a “coming of age” artwork that showcases the changes people go through when growing up and the innocence lost during that transition.
Yoshitimo Nara | Pilgram Heads (1999)
Regarding the inspiration for this piece, Nara is quoted as saying “It began as a small incident in my mind, when it rained nonstop and I seemed to be swimming around in this little world like a tadpole. As the rain kept falling, the puddle grew in size, eventually merging with the other puddles nearby. These puddles formed an expansive network, which made me happy, even though I had trouble keeping up with their speed of expansion at times.”
The work is centered around a traditional teacup with a motor that circulates water. The figures on top appear like childish lambs heads stacked on each other. This lamb motif was seen on a different Nara statue, The Little Pilgrims, and they seemingly religiously tie into the theme of this work. Lambs have traditionally represented innocence and purity in Christianity, but also suffering as well. This can best be seen as a glance at the lambs’ faces showing downcast and sorrowful expressions, the sadness of fleeting youth.
Other Highlight Lots:
Lot 8 | Nicolas Party | Mountains, Soft pastel on linen, in artist's frame
Executed in 2023
156.8 x 186.1 cm
Provenance:
- The Modern Institute, Glasgow
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
Estimate: HK$10,000,000 - 15,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$11,000,000
Sold: HK$13,760,000 (around US$1.76 million)
Lot 12 | Pierre Soulages | Peinture 202 x 143 cm, 25 septembre 1967, Oil on canvas
Painted in 1967
202 x 143 cm
Provenance:
- Knoedler & Co, New York (acquired directly from the artist in 1968)
- Galerie de France, Paris (acquired from the above in 1973)
- Galerie Beaubourg, Paris (acquired from the above in 1985)
- Private Collection, Los Angeles (acquired from the above in 1989)
- Opera Gallery, Paris (acquired from the above)
- Private Collection, Europe (acquired from the above)
- Thence by descent to the present owner
Estimate: HK$9,000,000 - 15,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$8,800,000
Sold: HK$11,098,000 (around US$1.42 million)
Lot 5 | Liu Ye | Mondrian, Hello, Acrylic on canvas
Painted in 2002
60 x 45 cm
Provenance:
- Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong
- Private Collection, Hong Kong
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
Estimate: HK$6,000,000 - 9,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,800,000
Sold: HK$7,366,000 (US$946,503)
Lot 9 | Yayoi Kusama | Watermelon and Fork, Acrylic on canvas
Painted in 1989
37.5 x 45 cm
Provenance:
- Private Collection
- Sotheby's, London, 18 October 2006, lot 566
- Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
Estimate: HK$6,000,000 - 8,000,000
Hammer Price: HK$5,500,000
Sold: HK$6,985,000 (US$897,545)
Lot 1 | Li Hei Di | Orange Swim, Oil on canvas (Auction record for the artist)
Painted in 2021
121 x 170 cm
Provenance:
- LINSEED Projects, Shanghai
- Acquired from the above by the present owner
Estimate: HK$320,000 - 480,000
Hammer Price: HK$950,000
Sold: HK$1,206,500 (US$155,030)
Auction Information:
Auction House: Phillips Hong Kong
Sale: Monder & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
Date: 25 November 2024
Number of Lots: 22
Total Lots Sold: 20
Lots Unsold: 2
Sell Rate: 91%
Sale Total: HK$171,141,000 (around US$21.9 million)