NEW YORK, NY.- On 18 September 2014 Sotheby’s New York will present the bi annual various-owner Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy sale immediately followed by a single owner auction from the Collection of General and Mrs. Zhu. The sales include a range of calligraphy by masters such as Wang Shouren, Xie Jin, Wen Zhengming, and Ni Yuanlu, and Classical paintings by Zheng Xie, Tang Yin, and Chen Hongshou among others. The full offering goes on view on Friday 12 September.

HIGHLIGHTS
The various owner sale is led by Chen Hongshou’s Figures from 1650 (est. $800,000/1.2 million). The painting beautifully represents the artist’s skill at capturing the human form and comes from an important Singapore collection.

Zheng Xie was one of the ‘Eight Eccentrics’ – a group of Qing Dynasty artists who pioneered a new bold and experimental approach to painting. Bamboo and Rock is a well preserved large-scale example from this period that has remained in the same private collection for decades (est. $850,000/1.2 million).

Tang Yin is one of the great Chinese historical figures of the Ming Dynastry whose fame extends far beyond his renown as a painter. Works such as Wait for a Boat in Autumn appear on the market extremely rarely (est. $300/400,000).

Among a strong group of calligraphy being offered in the sales is Poems in Cursive Script by the influential artist and polticial figure Ni Yuanlu (est. $250/350,000). Very few handscrolls by the artist remain in existence and it is particularly rare to find an example with such extensive text.

Wen Zhengming is one of the four great masters of the Ming Dynasty and is represented in the National Museums of both Beijing and Taipei. Xiyuan Poems in Cursive Script comes from the Estate of Wai-Kam Ho – a connoisseur and museum curator who worked at many distinguished institutions and spent the last few months of his life working at the Shanghai Museum (est. $200/250,000).

The single-owner sale of eight pieces formerly in the collection of General Zhu Shaoliang and Mrs. Zhu includes four works by Zhang Daqian and four pre-modern works of painting and calligraphy. The sale is led by Zhang Daqian’s Portrait Of Avalokitesvara From Dunhuang Buddhist Cave which the artist painted during his stay in the Mogao caves in the early 1940s (est. $2.6/3.2 million). Zhang Daqian spent over two and a half years in the caves on the edge of the Gobi Desert painstakingly copying the intricate murals that covered the walls and ceiling. The painting depicts Avalokitesvara holding a crystal plate and a ribbon from the robe. With rich color and dignified figure, this work absorbs the best quality of the
Dunhuang art.

Other highlights include Lotus After Shitao (est. $800,000/1 million) and Poem In Running Script (est. $50/70,000) also by Zhang Daqian while the calligraphic works include Letters by Dong Qichang (est. $120/150,000).