NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s annual autumn auctions of Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy in New York will be held on 13 September, as a highlight of our Asia Week sales series. Featuring the personal collection of two students of the modern master Zhang Daqian, the sales open for public exhibition in our York Avenue galleries on 7 September.

TANG HUNG AND FUNG BI-CHE COLLECTION OF CHINESE PAINTINGS & CALLIGRAPHY
Auction 13 September
Tang Hung (1926–2018) stood apart among the many students of ink master Zhang Daqian (1899–1983). He had deep personal connections to his teacher. His father, Tang Yi (1904–1972), known as Haolan, had also been his student, as had his wife Fung Bi-Che (1916–2009).

Throughout the decades, while Tang Hung and Fung Bi-Che were actively exhibiting internationally, the husband and wife acquired works that moved them, using a discerning aesthetic eye to choose individual works with strong artistic purpose, be it a unique flourish of brushwork or an unexpected application of color. Sotheby’s will present their highly-personal collection in a dedicated auction on 13 September, with an additional 47 lots to be offered in our Saturday at Sotheby's: Asian Art auction on 15 September.

Among the highlights of their collection is Invitation to Visit (estimate $200/300,000), a landscape that Zhang Daqian gifted Tang Hung, and in which he expressly addresses Tang Hung in the tone of both teacher and friend, inviting him to join himself in the mountains depicted therein. The work is inscribed: “Last fall, I acquired this striking view of the Northern Mojie Mountain and thought how pleasant it would be to have a dwelling here. I did not have a chance to materialize this vision, I painted it instead. Would you, my very dear friend [Tang Hung], like to join me here to enjoy the serenity of this land?” Furthermore, a selection of letters penned from Zhang Daqian to Bi-Che reveals the tenderness of their friendship, as well as her reverence for his skills (estimate $45/65,000).

Zhang Daqian is one of the best-known and most prolific Chinese artists of the 20th century, celebrated both for his detailed portraits and his splashed-ink landscapes. Beginning his career as a traditionalist, he went on to develop innovative painting methods such as pouring ink and color on paper or silk to produce random, evocative forms combining traditional Chinese brushwork and semi-abstract compositions. A gregarious spirit and an enthusiastic teacher, he established the influential Dafengtang School of Painting in Shanghai along with his brother, the artist Zhang Shanzi.

Over the years the couple visited Zhang Daqian in Carmel, California, where he had moved with his family. After Zhang Daqian passed away, they maintained close relationships with his widow, Xu Wenbo, and third son, Zhang Baoluo. In this way, their collection is a testament to the generous spirit and creative energy of Zhang Daqian as well as to this couple’s heartfelt pursuit of beauty and enduring belief in the transcendent nature of art.

Outside of the 20 works by Zhang Daqian, the collection speaks to both Tang Hung’s and Fung Bi-Che’s training in Chinese painting and calligraphy, with each work displaying a strong artistic purpose. For example, two flower and bird paintings – Flowers of Winter and Spring by Yun Shouping (estimate $80/120,000) and Flowers of Four Seasons by Zhang Xiong (estimate $8/12,000) – must have moved Tang Hung, allowing him to study the brushwork and application of color by artists of the recent past. Further highlights include rarely seen early masterpieces of known masters, such as Dragon in the Clouds by Lin Fengmian (estimate $120/180,000), as well as an excellent group of 22 fan leaves and folding fans.

CHINESE PAINTINGS BY TANG HUNG AND FUNG BI-CHE
Selling Exhibition 7–15 September
Alongside the auction of Tang Hung and Fung Bi-Che’s collection, Sotheby’s will present a selling exhibition of works by both artists. Tang Hung's paintings channel Zhang Daqian’s masterful effects with color – with vividly hued works adorned by calligraphy in the slender gold script, creating a richly ornamented effect. Fung Bi-Che’s paintings meanwhile, fully display the legacy of her teacher, yet are rendered with a more delicate sense of beauty, overflowing with light.

FINE CLASSICAL CHINESE PAINTINGS & CALLIGRAPHY
Auction 13 September 2018
The various-owner auction of Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy offers an outstanding group of works with the most impeccable provenance, sourced from private collections worldwide and featuring examples by Dong Qichang, Lan Ying, Wang Yuanqi, Lu Zhi, Emperor Jiaqing, Qi Baishi, Wu Guanzhong, Huang Junbi, Zhang Daqian and Wu Changshuo, among others. This season’s sale is anchored by two distinguished private collections: the Serendipitous Encounters Collection of Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy, and the Stephen Junkunc III Collection of Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy – two collections of remarkable provenance gathered by important figures of the field.