BEIJING.- Sotheby’s Beijing announces a series of sales and events to take place from 27 to 30 November during the Autumn Sale season at the China World Summit Wing Beijing. The four-day series will include an auction of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art and a preview of three selling exhibitions: Sotheby’s Diamonds; S. J. Phillips Ltd. – Fine Antique and Period Jewellery with Royal and Aristocratic Provenance; and Koopman Rare Art – Fine Antique Silver with Royal and Noble Provenance, providing a rare opportunity for collectors and connoisseurs alike to acquire high-end jewellery and top-quality Western silverware. Panel discussions and lectures will be held as part of the Educational Programme, featuring Sotheby’s international team of specialists, leading art scholars and commentarists to create an interactive platform for artistic exchange.

Kevin Ching, Chief Executive Officer of Sotheby’s Asia, said: “This Autumn in Beijing, Sotheby’s will continue our commitment to promoting cultural exchange between East and West. Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art remains the theme of the auction with a focus on Contemporary Ink paintings, which have achieved impressive results in recent years.

“Once again, we will offer Western collectibles through selling exhibitions – ranging from European royal antique jewellery to high-end contemporary diamond jewellery and more. By organising a public lecture by distinguished jewellery expert as well as exclusive appreciation workshop for our preferred clients, we hope to deepen Chinese collector’s understanding in jewellery collecting. We have also seen growing interest in European decorative art and Western silverware by Asian and Chinese collectors. Building on our success with the three instalments of the selling exhibition in Asia titled Age of Elegance: European Paintings, Furniture and Works of Art from the 19th Century, this season we are pleased to present in Beijing rare Western royal silver by Koopman Rare Art. With these offerings Sotheby’s is honoured to yet again rise to the occasion of our Chinese clients’ increasingly diversified collecting taste both within and beyond traditional categories of Asian art.”

Wen Guihua, President of Sotheby’s Beijing Auction Co. Ltd., said: “The solid results achieved in our June auction are a testament to Chinese collectors’ trust in Sotheby’s reputation for excellence. This season we will build on the meticulous sourcing approach and offer 56 quality works of Modern and Contemporary Chinese art catering to the taste of our Chinese clients. Headlining the sale is Zao Wou-ki’s 27.01.86 (1986), a classic piece which displays the artist’s brushstroke, use of colour and spirit that are characteristic of his creativity and vision at that time, as well as Zeng Fanzhi’s Portrait (2003), a highly representative piece of his ‘post-mask’ period. We are also delighted to step up our offering of Contemporary Ink paintings in the upcoming sale. With its deep roots in Chinese art history, Contemporary Ink has received increasing market attention in recent years. Since introducing sales of Contemporary Ink art three seasons ago, we have achieved outstanding results and have now established a dedicated department focusing on the development of this category. The works to be offered demonstrate the evolution in aesthetics from traditional through modern perspectives. We look forward to welcoming collectors and art lovers at the series of events this Autumn.”

MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART AUCTION (30 November)
Sotheby’s will present 56 exceptional works in the Modern and Contemporary Chinese Arts Auction on 30 November. Sourced globally within Sotheby’s worldwide network, the selection is estimated in excess of RMB 50 million / US$8.2 million* in total. The Modern Art section will feature works by such renowned artists as Zao Wou-Ki, Wang Huaiqing and Luo Zhongli, many from important private collections. The Contemporary Art section will present iconic works by Zhou Chunya, Zeng Fanzhi and Liu Wei, among others. In Contemporary Ink section, a dynamic selection of contemporary ink art will be offered, ranging from the works by pioneering artists including Wu Shanming, Huang Yongyu and Tian Liming to Liu Kuo-sung, Xu Bing, and Xu Lei.

Modern Art Highlights:

Zao Wou-Ki (1920–2013), 27.1.86 1986, oil on canvas, 200 x 162 cm Est. RMB 12 – 18 million / US$1.96 – 2.94 million
Zao Wou-ki earned international fame in the 1980s, with works appearing in the collections of important Western museums and abundant large-scale exhibition invitations. During this period, the master painter chose to return to his homeland, China, undertaking several important projects, among them a gigantic panel diptych for Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing; a solo exhibition at the National Art Museum of China, his first showcase in his home country since his emigration to France in 1948; and a guest lecture position with his alma mater, the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. Executed in 1986, 27.01.86 is a work of epic scale in which the artist’s sweeping vision is unveiled. At the height of creativity during the 1980s, Zao presided over the giant canvas with forceful brushstrokes, creating a crisscrossing mesh of ink-like linear shapes, boldly structured and suffused with rugged power, grandeur and grimness. Voids contrast with the artist’s iconic colour-splash techniques, specific to this particular period of his career. Vibrant, transparent coral hues express a ceaseless life force. Featured in Zao’s retrospective exhibitions in Paris (1988) and Tokyo (2004), 27.01.86 appealed aesthetically to both the Eastern and Western audiences alike.

Wang Huaiqing (b. 1944), What 2013 – 2014, aluminium alloy, 56 (H) x 75 (L) x 43 (W) cm Est. RMB 500,000 – 800,000 / US$ 82,000 – 131,000
What, Wang Huaiqing’s aluminium-alloy sculpture, is a highlight from the artist’s new ‘Multidimensional Series’. An experimental attempt marking his transition from painting to sculpture, it represents a boundary-breaking milestone. Contemporary in feeling, the present work demonstrates a metamorphosis in form, from ‘object’ to ‘organism’; yet Wang’s aesthetic language is rooted in the Oriental concepts of ‘fold’ and ‘overlap’. Straddling the divide between oil painting and three-dimensional sculpture, What showcases the unique legacy of Wang’s artistic inspiration – a fusion of the East and the West, antiquity and modernity, at the crossroads of the artist’s creativity.

Contemporary Art highlights

Zeng Fanzhi (1964), Portrait 2003, oil on canvas, 248.5 x 171 cm Est. RMB 6 – 8 million / US$980,000 – 1.31 million
Completed in 2003, Portrait is a highly representative piece of the ‘post-mask’ period in which human emotions are portrayed with heightened intensity and anti-realism. The figure, retaining the classic forms from the ‘mask’ period – the white shirt, black slacks, and red handkerchief which remind audiences of figures in The Last Supper – appears in a void, creating a tension between the real and false. A striking proportional imbalance between the subject’s head and body is particularly evident, with thick, flexed fingers placed tensely at his waist. In Portrait, the figure has already shed his mask, revealing enormous, intense eyes and an alarmed expression straining with bulging tendons and muscles beneath an angry, violent red crown. With the mask peeled back, what remains is a jarring expression of alarm and loss.

Zhou Chunya (b. 1955), Peach Blossom 2010, oil on canvas, 279.5 x 197.5 cm Est. RMB 5.7 – 6.5 million / US$935,000 – 1.07 million
A large-format masterpiece from Zhou Chunya’s ‘Peach Blossom Series’, Peach Blossom is a prime example of the artist’s masterful synthesis of Western expressionism with the spirit of Eastern literati art. As in traditional Chinese painting, Zhou’s peach blossoms symbolise femininity, delicacy and desire, of which his inspiration in using peach blossoms as the subject matter was from his third wife Shuang Shuang. In the present work, a fully blooming spring peach blossom surges forward against the contrast of a pristine, azure sky. Charming and provocative, the peach blossoms – next to the clear creek and open field, the romance of spring abuzz in the air – overwhelm the viewer with their symbolic allure.

Contemporary Ink Highlights

Liu Kuo-sung (b. 1932), Winter Landscape 1967, ink and collage on Liu Kuo-sung paper, 92.2 x 59.5 cm Est. RMB 160,000 – 240,000 / US$26,200 – 39,200
From 1966 to 1967, Liu Kuo-sung travelled extensively throughout the United States and Europe as the recipient of a John D Rockefeller II Fund grant. One of the artist’s earliest exhibitions was a 1967 solo show at the prestigious Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, renowned for its extensive collection of Asian art. Winter Landscape – formerly in the estate of a Kansas Art Institute professor – is one of Liu’s early paintings exhibited in the United States. In contrast to the artist’s widely recognised abstract works, Winter Landscape is a figurative landscape depicting fragments of vegetation, rocks and cliff emerging from the snow, created with handmade paper collage, marbled ink on paper, and fibre- plucking techniques. Driven by a powerful artistic vision, Liu subverts tradition, eschewing descriptive elements usually found in traditional landscape paintings in favour of broad expressions of nature’s grandeur.

Li Jin (b. 1958), Drawing of an Affluent Scene 2007, ink and colour on paper, 140.3 x 68.6 cm Est. RMB 500,000 – 600,000 / US$82,000 – 98,000
Scholar of the contemporary visual world and master of his medium, Li Jin produces ink art unique in its diaristic accounts that are simultaneously simple and profound, fun and witty, carefree and accomplished. Li’s brush and ink wash are seemingly effortless, but in truth the result of years of practice. Drawing of an Affluent Scene is a nostalgic take on the simple symbols of abundance with a modern twist. The scene depicted is not one of every day, but one of luxury – a moment to be captured for a lifetime. The contemplative expression of the figure seated among the finery poses the question: does wealth beget true happiness?

Other highlights include:

Modern Art
Luo Zhongli (b. 1948), Resting 1981, oil on board, 68 x 49.3 cm Est. RMB 1.8 – 2.5 million / US$294,000 – 409,000

Contemporary Art
Liu Wei (b. 1972), Purple Air IV-2 (diptych) 2007, oil on canvas Overall: 300 x 360 cm; Each: 300 x 180 cm Est. RMB 2.2 – 2.8 million / US$360,000 – 458,000

SELLING EXHIBITIONS PREVIEW (27 – 30 November)
Sotheby’s Diamonds
Sotheby’s Diamonds will present a stunning collection of diamond jewellery in Beijing alongside the Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art auction. Sotheby’s Diamonds (www.sothebysdiamonds.com) was established as a unique partnership between the world’s oldest international auction house and Diacore, renowned experts in cutting and polishing extraordinary diamonds for over seven decades. Catering to the various needs of diamond connoisseurs, Sotheby’s Diamonds specialises in a comprehensive range of services made available year-round regardless of the auction calendar and free of commission, from sourcing important top-quality diamonds rarely seen on the market and complementing them with bespoke designs, to presenting original and meticulously handcrafted diamond jewellery.

Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond Earrings
A pair of Emerald-Cut Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond Pendent Earrings, both Internally Flawless, totalling 10.09 carats. Mounted in Platinum and 18k Yellow Gold with pavé-set White Diamonds.

Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond Ring
A 4.57-carat Heart-Shaped Internally Flawless Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond Ring. Mounted in 18k Rose Gold.

A Pair Of Pear-Shaped DIF Diamond Pendent Earrings
Totalling 10.11 carats, suspended from a pair of Cabochon Emeralds, totalling 2.66 carats.

S. J. Phillips Ltd.
Fine Antique and Period Jewellery with Royal and Aristocratic Provenance
This season in Beijing collectors will have the opportunity to view important and fine antique and period jewellery with royal and aristocratic provenance through an exhibition curated by S. J. Phillips Ltd., London. Founded in 1869, S. J. Phillips Ltd. is the oldest surviving jeweller in London’s famous Bond Street.

A 5.97-carat Cushion-cut Burmese Sapphire and Diamond Ring
English, C.1950, Mounted in Platinum.

Pair of Antique Diamond Triple Drop “Girandole” Pendant Earrings
English, C.1830, formerly belonging to Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (1906–1968).

Suite of Diamond Jewellery
Set in silver and 18ct yellow gold, diamonds totalling approximately 521 carats.
C.1843, presented by Louis-Philippe I, King of France to his daughter Marie Clémentine Léopoldine Caroline Clotilde, Princess of Orléans on her marriage to Prince August of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary on 20 April 1843. Comprising a two-row collet necklace with nine fringe cluster pendants, five cluster brooches and two cluster clasps, a pair of pear shaped pendant earrings and pair of alternate foliate cluster earrings pendants, a corsage brooch, a scrollwork hairpiece and an ivyleaf tiara, excepting the tiara, all cased and with comb and brooch fittings.