NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s announced the full schedule of eight Asia Week sales from 17th – 21st March which includes two single-owner auctions as well as a themed sale celebrating the artistic development of Chinese writing and calligraphy. In addition, there will be two selling exhibitions of ink paintings and contemporary ceramics.
ASIA WEEK 2015 AT SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK
Chinese Art through the Eye of Sakamoto Gorō – Ceramics
17 March 2015, 10am
The latest sale from the illustrious collection of Sakamoto Gorō will focus on a broad survey of Chinese ceramics dating from the 3rd century BC to the 19th century AD. Among the highlights is A Rare Blue and White 'Peony' Jar (Guan), Yuan Dynasty from Jingdezhen, boldly painted in intense tones of underglaze blue with a band of classic scrolling peony blooms (est. $1/1.5 million).
Song Tradition: Early Ceramics from the Yang De Tang Collection
17 March 2015, approximately 11am
Sotheby’s will present a single-owner sale of Song ceramics and its antecedents from the Yang De Tang Collection. The auction comprises 59 pieces spanning a wide spectrum of forms, glazes and techniques, with pieces from major kiln sites well represented in this comprehensive group. Highlights include A Celadon ‘Grain’ Jar And Cover Five Dynasties / Northern Song Dynasty (est. $500/700,000); A Rare Black-Glazed Russet-Splashed 'Medallion' Vase, Song Dynasty (est. $100/150,000); A ‘Dengfeng’ Carved Pillow, Northern Song dynasty (est. $80/100,000); superb examples of ‘Changsha’ and ‘Qingbai’ wares; and ‘Longquan’ celadons.
Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art including Property from the Estate of Dr. Claus Virch
17 March 2015, 10am and 2pm
The Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art auction will feature a curated selection of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain devotional, ritual and decorative works of art with storied provenance from the ancient regions of Gandhara, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia. The sale will be led by An Historic 11th Century Vajradhatu Mandala from Tibet (est. $800,000/1.2 million). The piece has been widely published and is believed to be the earliest extent mandala to have survived from Tibet, representing a clear link between eleventh-century Indian painting and formative Tibetan art. In addition, the sale also features works from the Estate of Dr. Claus Virch, the curator of 19th Century and European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 1957-1970, who amassed an enviable collection of Indian miniature paintings.
Inscriptions: History as Art
New York 17 March 2015, 1.30pm
Inscriptions: History as Art showcases a range of pieces representing the artistic development of Chinese writing and calligraphy from inscribed oracle bones from the Shang dynasty which are recognized as the earliest surviving Chinese writing to modern and contemporary calligraphic works inspired by ancient inscriptions. The sale is led by The Da Guan Tang Bao: An Important Imperial Jade Seal, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period which comes from the Sarnoff collection (est. $1/1.5 million).
Important Chinese Works of Art
New York 17 March, 2pm and 18 March, 2pm
The two-day, two-session Important Chinese Works of Art sale will showcase around 240 lots many of which have been in major private collections for many years. Among the highlights are The Mahin Banu ‘Grape’ Dish: A Magnificent And Storied Blue And White Dish, Ming Dynasty, Yongle Period, c. 1420 from the Guennol Collection (est. $2.5/3.5 million) and A Rare and Important Blue and White ‘Dragon’ Bowl, Xuande Mark and Period, formerly in the collection of General Haughton (est. $2.5/3.5 million). In addition the sale will include outstanding furniture, Song, Ming and Qing ceramics, a strong selection of Buddhist bronzes, cloisonné, Qing jades from the Collection of Lolo Sarnoff, Dehua figures, and scholars’ objects.
Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art
18 March, 10am
Among the highlights of the Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art sale is a stunning Self-Portrait by Amrita Sher-Gil - the most important work by the India’s leading female modernist to appear at auction (est. $1.2/1.8 million). Not only did Sher-Gil play a crucial role in the articulation of twentieth century Indian art, but she was also a seminal influence on generations of Indian artists, pioneering a new form of Indian modernism. Also featured in the sale is Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s sublime Untitled painting from 1963 that hails from a very important moment in the artist’s career; featuring his early experimentations with non-objective art (est. $1.5/2 million)
Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy
19 March 2015 | 10:00 AM EDT
The Fine Classical Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy sale will once again showcase a range of calligraphy and paintings sourced from private collections around the world. Among the highlights is Poems, Calligraphy and Landscape album by Shitao, who is known for delicately applying various shades of brushstrokes with an elegantly subtle color pallet (est. $1/1.5 million) while the sale also features outstanding calligraphy by Zhu Yunming, Li Dongyang, and others.
Saturday at Sotheby’s: Chinese Art
21 March 2015, 10am
Sotheby's will introduce an additional sale of around 300 lots to it's Asia Week program, representing all categories of Chinese Art with low estimates ranging from $500 to $40,000. The sale will include a collection of later Chinese bronzes from the collection of Paul Freeman, snuff bottles from the collection of Lolo Sarnoff, jade carvings, porcelains, textiles, as well as classical and modern Chinese paintings and calligraphy from various owners.
Shuimo: Ten Thousand Blossoms Spring
Selling Exhibition 12 - 21 March 2015
In the Song Emperor Huizong’s reign, there was an invitation to artists wishing to join his court, to express in their paintings a feeling of joy upon returning from a Spring outing. In a similar spirit, the thirteen artists in Shuimo 2015 were asked to interpret, widely, the theme of flowers, Spring and rejuvenation. The five women artists, Ding Qiao, Peng Wei, Yang Yanling, Yuan Jai and Zhang Yirong painted flower, in very different styles with superb brushwork and an understanding of the classical traditions, complimenting a work of poppies by Liu Dan.
Li Huayi chose to infuse his elegant mountainscapes with hints of young green to herald Spring. Arnold Chang’s unusual use of bright greens, yellows and peach in his landscapes reflected exuberance and joy. Peng Kang-long and Chen Chien-fa in their flower fields expressed transience and fragility, with flowers in their budding or fading moments. Teng Pu-chun and Tai Xiangzhou in their surreal and futuristic rock- strewn landscapes and stratosphere, suggest at once stability and dramatic change.
The maverick Li Jin exudes joy and a farewell to restraint in almost all his works and he returns with his memories of St. Patrick’s Day parades, adding the right whimsical flourish to New York’s Asia Week’s version of March Madness.
The Hidden Virtues And Frame Of Mind: Contemporary Ceramics by Caroline Cheng
Selling Exhibition: 12-21 March 2015
In her second solo show with Sotheby’s, the renowned ceramic artist Caroline Cheng presents eight large panels from her Hidden Virtues series, each showing a Chinese character embedded in a color field made up of hundreds of delicate porcelain butterflies sewn onto a burlap background. The viewer is prompted to look deeply at the 200 x 200 cm panels to see words such as Loyal, Righteous, Trust, Honest, Sincere, Courteous, Virtuous and Filial illuminated in strikingly bright monochromatic panels of green, blue, yellow, grey and pink. A second set of eight small panels (70 x 70 cm) also uses myriads of butterflies forming characters to suggest a mood, attitude or frame of mind such as Intellect, Cool, and Love.
