HONG KONG.- Christie's Hong Kong will hold its 2014 Autumn Asian 20th Century & Contemporary Art sales on 22nd and 23rd November 2014, offering 711 lots with a combined estimate of HK$670 million/ US$86 million. With a fine selection of exceptional works by Asian masters who have led the way in modern and contemporary art movements, the auctions take the theme “The Era of Asia, The Art of Asia” from previous seasons even further. Spanning cultures and subject matters, the three themes “The Art and Soul of Pan-Asian Abstraction”, “Timeless Time” and “Contemporary Portraits” converge as a driving force that demonstrates the aesthetics as well as potential of Asian art.

In addition, Christie's Hong Kong presents Asia's first avant-garde movement of the 1950s – Gutai Art Association. Amid the turbulent social environment of post-war Japan, along with the popularisation of Existentialism, the group was founded by a number of Japanese artists in the 1950s, who strove to break away from the aesthetic traditions in search of a new, more personal artistic sphere and independent voice.

THE ART AND SOUL OF PAN-ASIAN ABSTRACTION
Abstract art is unique in its ability to convey universal ideas which transcend geographical and cultural boundaries; hence it asserts itself as a means of artistic expression and communication for artists all over the world. The Art and Soul of Pan- Asian Abstraction presents top Asian abstract works in a language that reflects the sentimentality, spirituality of Asian artists and their emotions towards their surroundings. Artists from different backgrounds like Chao Chun-Hsiang, Chu Teh-Chun, Chen Wen-Hsi and Lee Ufan had crossed paths and eventually converged in their respective engagement with abstract art. From this point of convergence, each had continued on his own unique trajectory, extending the boundaries of Asian art.

ZAO WOU-KI, 25.05.62 , Painted in 1962
ZAO WOU-KI, 09.06.67 , Painted in 1967
Subsequent to his 1956 travel to the United States, he began to explore in depth ways to blend together traditional Chinese aesthetics and creative methods with aesthetics of Western Abstract Expressionism. The centre composition of this artwork subtly echoes traditional Chinese calligraphy combined with broad strokes. The painting shows a combination of relaxed and fast-paced painterly movements. Zao was an artist who placed great emphasis on the compositional balance between the tangible and the intangible. A musical analogy was made by Zao for this treatment incorporating movement and stillness, fullness and emptiness (Estimate: HK$35,000,000-45,000,000/ US$4,487,200-5,769,200). A monumental sized painting from the artist in the 1960s, 09.06.67 represents the artist's mastery of technique and fitness of execution. (Estimate: HK$15,000,000- 20,000,000/ US$1,923,100-2,564,100).

CHU TEH-CHUN, No. 404 , Painted in 1970-1971
No. 404 is an extremely rare and large oil on canvas by Chu Teh-Chun. Measuring 1.6 meter high and over 2 meters long, No.404 intrigues with a surprising level of lyrical rhythm and lucidity that is relatively rare in Chu Teh-Chun‟s oeuvre. The colour scheme and movement of the brush strokes reflect such uniqueness. Warm colours - such as yellow and orange - are not commonly seen in Chu's artworks. Throughout his artistic career, a cooler colour palette had always dominated. No.404 is sedative as if it puts the viewer into a state of mediation. Chu enchants the viewer, horizontally gliding the brush in rhythm to create a space that is cinematically inviting (Estimate: HK$20,000,000-30,000,000/ US$2,564,100- 3,846,200).

IBRAHIM HUSSEIN, Now And Again It Flowers – Series I , Painted in 1973
Malaysian artist Ibrahim Hussein's Now And Again It Flowers – Series I is a perfect example of Southeast Asian abstract art. Influenced by icons such as Francis Bacon, Hussein was a key figure in the development of a distinctly Malaysian brand of modernism and abstraction. The daring colour and fluid entanglement of the figures featured expresses the artist's masterful skills, bearing his contemplation on the cycle of life and its regeneration (Estimate: HK$1,200,000-1,800,000/ US$153,800-230,800).

LEE UFAN, From Point , Painted in 1978
YAYOI KUSAMA, Infinity - Nets WHXOTLO , Painted in 2006
In From Point, Lee presents a spiral pattern, a rarity amongst his works which showcases his concept of point being the origin of the universe, as he stated 'all things in the universe start from a point and return to a point' (Estimate: HK$4,500,000-6,500,000/ US$576,900-833,300). Infinity-Nets WHXOTLO by Yayoi Kusama spans 10 meters, and is one of the largest infinity net paintings to appear at auction. In its abstraction and minimalism, this monumental painting resembles an unceasing landscape. (Estimate: HK$12,000,000-15,000,000/ US$1,538,500-1,923,100).

TIMELESS TIME
Works by 20th century artists such as Cheong Soo Pieng, Kim Whan-ki, Lin Fengmian, Sanyu, and others are able to stand the test of time as their paintings evoke exceptional depths of emotion. While physical objects are confined by space and time, human emotions know no limits. Paintings such as these represent the very definitions of timeless beauty that will remain comprehensible, intimate, and relevant to generations of audiences to come. The theme of Timeless Time aims to exemplify the elegant and classic nature of art.

SANYU, Roses in a White Vase , Painted in 1931
Sanyu's palette in Roses in a White Vase comprises only of creamy white, pink, and ink-black colours that normally might serve instead as a foil to red roses and green leaves. Here, though, Sanyu reverses their roles: the red roses, freely painted in simple lines, seem secondary, almost a decorative accompaniment to the black leaves. Sanyu's style here, philosophically, seems to take traditional Eastern landscapes as its point of reference. However, it should be noted that Sanyu's use of the low value tones in the subtle areas of pink, actually runs contrary to the ink-wash conceptions of the ancient literati painters of the East, since he does not employ their flat compositional style. Taken as a whole, Sanyu's accomplishment in Roses in a White Vase constitutes nothing less than a sensational work of Western oil painting (Estimate: HK$35,000,000-45,000,000/ US$4,487,200-5,769,200).

LE PHO, View from the Hilltop , Painted in 1937
Le Pho is widely regarded as one of the greatest Vietnamese painters of the 20th century. He eventually chose to leave Vietnam in 1937 for the cosmopolitan art world of Paris. Executed in the same year he arrived in Paris, View from the Hilltop exemplifies Le Pho's ambition as a painter of the modern life, referencing chapters in art history while expressing a desire to remember Vietnam as a deeply beautiful and unspoiled landscape (Estimate on request).

AFFANDI, Baltimore Nude Girl , Painted in 1962
Nudity is an extremely intriguing subject in Indonesian modern artist Affandi's oeuvre, having taken evident form in the artist's early full-length nude self-portraits to nudes of his closest family members and finally to nudes set within a specific social and historical context like in the present lot. Thence emerged Baltimore Nude Girl, arguably the boldest and the most articulate nude painting Affandi has ever painted, and one that he hung with a measurable degree of pride in his living room in Yogyakarta (Estimate on request).

ADRIEN-JEAN LE MAYEUR DE MERPRÈS, Women by the Lotus Pond
In Women by the Lotus Pond, the four women are all modeled after Le Mayeur's wife. Intimate, sensual, playful and enchanting all at once, the painting shows the artist's ceaseless pursuit of ideal beauty (Estimate: HK$4,500,000-6,000,000/US$576,900-769,200).

CHEONG SOO PIENG, Making Up , Painted in 1951
Chinese opera is best known for its heavily theatrical, almost gaudy make-up which creates a visual effect similar to that of a mask. Once this „second skin‟ is applied, the performer in Making Up is able to transcend personal identity and limitations to fully inhabit the essence of his character (Estimate: HK$1,500,000-2,000,000/ US$192,300-256,540).

CHEN YIFEI, Father and Son (Tibet), Painted in 1995
Once exhibited in Pavilion of the People's Republic of China at the 47th Venice Biennale, Father and Son (Tibet) is a monumental sized painting by Chen Yifei. The stoic dynamic between the two figures vividly captures the unspoken power of the father-son bond. The present lot is representative of Chen‟s strong realistic style which alludes to a higher reality that goes beyond the appearances of his subjects to their spirits (Estimate: HK$15,000,000-25,000,000/ US$1,923,100-3,205,100).

KIM WHAN-KI, Untitled , Painted in 1958 &
WALTER SPIES, Der Abschied (The Farewell) , Painted circa 1921
Kim Whan-Ki's Untitled utilises traditional Korean patterns in designing a poetic, meditative image (Estimate: HK$1,500,000- 2,500,000/ US$192,300-320,500); while Der Abschied (The Farewell) by Bali-based German artist Walter Spies is a rare self- portrait of himself, seen bidding farewell to a woman within a landscape steeped in whimsy and theatricality (Estimate: HK$4,000,000-6,000,000/ US$512,800-769,200).

CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITS
Epitomising the realist perspective and critical approach of contemporary art, the artworks in Contemporary Portraits create a fascinating collage of Asia's current social environment and the psyche of contemporary life. While portraits by Liu Wei, Zeng Fanzhi and Zhang Xiaogang hint at the struggles of our everyday lives, installations from Nam June Paik and Kohei Nawa challenge the audience's existing perception and encourage us to re-examine the world we live in. This series of artworks mirrors the real mental state behind the masked faces, signifying the drastic change contemporary Asia is experiencing on a social and mental level.

ZHANG XIAOGANG, Portrait in Gray Background , Painted in 1994
Portrait in Gray Background represents a turning point in Zhang Xiaogang's artistic career. His artworks in the early 90s investigate the everlasting question of human identity. In 1994, Zhang Xiaogang spent a month meticulously completing this painting. This revolutionary single portrait had blazed the trail for Zhang Xiaogang's subsequent creative output. It is the predecessor of the Bloodline Series: Big Family. Compared to other works from the same period, this peerless work stands alone as a landmark of the artist's creative career. Because of its experimental nature, historic significance, and high degree of rarity, Portrait in Grey Background is considered to be the classic in Zeng Fanzhi's oeuvre (Estimate: HK$17,000,000-24,000,000/ US$2,179,500-3,076,900).

ZENG FANZHI, Mask Series 2001 , Painted in 2001
In Mask Series 2001, a solemn figure stands on a mountain top alone. The ground beneath him combines to exaggerate his stature as a man at the pinnacle of eminence. The background can also be seen as in the shape of a wide angle lens of a camera. It is a vision of desired self-presentation, highlighting a shift in Zeng's own understandings of the dilemmas and difficulties of his age. The features of the mask - though denying us access to the figure's actual appearance - stand as a metaphor for his psychological state (Estimate: HK$15,000,000-25,000,000/ 1,923,100-3,205,100).

NAM JUNE PAIK, Marshall McLuhan , Painted in 1991
YOSHITOMO NARA, Quiet, Quiet, Painted in 1999
Korean-American artist Paik Nam June's Marshall McLuhan (Estimate: HK$2,200,000-2,800,000/ US$282,100-359,000) discusses the relationship between mass media and their audiences, highlighting their contribution to the progress of human civilisation. Quiet, Quiet, a sculpture by Yoshitomo Nara (Estimate: HK$3,000,000-5,000,000/ US$384,600-641,000), ingeniously hides a subtle anxiety behind its amusing, cartoonish façade.

Indonesian artist I Nyoman Masriadi - known for his narrative style - highlights the auction with a recent tour-de-force, Sangat Tidak Lutcu (Really Not Funny) (Estimate: HK$2,500,000- 3,500,000/ US$320,500-448,700).

Christie's Hong Kong presents the work of the leading Thai contemporary artist Natee Utarit for the first time in an evening sale. In Candle Light, Utarit brings together a strange assembly of objects - a figurine, a pair of slippers, a shoe brush, and a collection of bones. With dexterity and subtlety, Utarit opens up a series of questions without definite answers – allowing for a characteristic openness and ambiguity in the interpretation of his work (Estimate: HK$700,000- 1,000,000/ US$89,700-128,200).

GUTAI ART ASSOCIATION
As the world struggled to recover from the aftermath of World War II, adverse conditions forced people to revisit the meaning of life. Inaugurated in 1954 as Japan's first avant-garde movement, Gutai Art Association was established under such social circumstances. It also awakened the Western world to the many captivating facets of Asia's cutting-edge art form. The group believed that the most valuable contribution of abstract art is opening up a new and autonomous pictorial space by transcending the mere representation of natural image. Automatism - without conscious manipulation - helps artists and the chosen materials get rid of predetermined image and explore the unknown territory. Gutai artists also have inspired a large number of Japanese young artists, who devoted themselves to challenging the existing traditions and formats of art as well as to breaking new creative grounds.

Some of Gutai's most prominent figures include Tsuyoshi Maekawa, Shozo Shimamoto, Kazuo Shiraga, Atsuko Tanaka, Chiyu Uemae and more. Leading highlights of the evening sale are Kaien by Kazuo Shiraga, who used his feet to execute this painting (Estimate: HK$10,000,000-15,000,000/ US$1,282,100-1,923,100), Yoko no Mitisu no Sen by Tsuyoshi Maekawa in the 1960's (Estimate: HK$2,000,000-3,000,000/ US$256,400-384,6000), Untitled by Shozo Shimamoto, the renowned artist and one of the founding members of Gutai (Estimate: HK$1,800,000-2,600,000/ US$230,800-333,300) and Work by female Gutai artist Atsuko Tanaka (Estimate: HK$550,000-850,000/ US$70,500-109,000).