HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong Contemporary Asian Art Spring Sales 2015 will take place on 4 and 5 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Representative pieces by leading contemporary Chinese artists will be offered in the Modern and Contemporary Asian Art Evening Sale on 4 April, including works by Fang Lijun, Zhang Xiaogang, Zeng Fanzhi, Mao Xuhui and Gu Wenda. Showcasing the diversity of contemporary Asian art, the Contemporary Asian Art Day Sale on 5 April will encompass contemporary Japanese and Korean abstract art, works by emerging young Chinese artists, as well as contemporary Chinese painting, video and photography from the collection of Guy and Myriam Ullens de Schooten. Together, the two sales will put forth more than 230 lots, estimated in excess of HK$250 million / US$3.2 million*.

Evelyn Lin, Head of Contemporary Asian Art at Sotheby’s, said: “This Spring, the Contemporary Asian Art department will continue to offer representative works by eminent artists of significant art historical value while at the same time introducing emerging Chinese artists, addressing collectors’ increasingly diversifying tastes. In light of the art world’s heightened interest in Asian abstract art, we are pleased to present a group of meticulously-sourced, top-quality Japanese Gutai and Korean abstract masterpieces. To be shown alongside a rare large-format canvas by Kusama Yayoi, these varied yet comprehensive offerings present unprecedented opportunities for collectors and art lovers in the region.”

Representative Works by Important Contemporary Chinese Artists

[Evening Sale, 4 April]
Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958) Bloodline: Big Family No.13 1996, oil on canvas, 190 x 150 cm Est. HK$16 – 25 million / US$2.1 – 3.2 million

[Day Sale, 5 April]
Bloodline Series: Yellow Baby 1997, oil on canvas, 129.3 x 99.9cm Est. HK$4 – 6 million / US$513,000 – 770,000
Created between 1993 and 2002, Zhang Xiaogang’s Bloodline: Big Family Series is without a doubt emblematic of contemporary Chinese art, fully encapsulating the Chinese people’s unspoken trauma, shared spirit and collective memory of past burdens. A continuation of the Bloodline: Big Family Series, the Bloodline Series has, since 1997, focused on the emergence and development of a new Chinese generation. To be offered in the upcoming auctions are Bloodline: Big Family No.13 and Bloodline Series: Yellow Baby, two important works from the early period of the respective series. Rarely seen in the market, both works were influenced by the artist’s daughter, born in 1994.

[Evening Sale, 4 April]
Zeng Fanzhi (b. 1964) Class One Series No. 15, 16 and 24 (three works) 1996, oil on canvas, 48 x 38 cm each Est. HK$6 – 8 million / US$770,000 – 1 million

Mao (triptych) 2004, oil on canvas Each: 200 x 200 cm, overall: 200 x 600 cm Est. HK$12 – 18 million / US$1.5 – 2.3 million
Although Zeng Fanzhi is primarily recognised as the “Mask Artist” as a result of his renowned Mask Series, at the turn of the millennium the artist began to explore a different manner of artistic rendering. Rather than shielding his characters with the masks for which he is so well known, Zeng began to scour the surfaces of his paintings with rings that blurred the subjects’ visages. On offer this April, Class One Series No. 15, 16 and 24 is an early work from the Mask Series which features many of the key symbols that were to become vital to the series, including the red scarf worn by the subject. Mao, a large-format triptych created in 2004, presents Mao Zedong gradually becoming obscured, and brings to life the artist’s creative exploration.

[Evening Sale, 4 April]
Fang Lijun (b. 1963) 1996.4 1996, oil on canvas, 180 x 230 cm Est. HK$18 – 24 million / US$2.3 – 3.1 million
The bald-headed figure with his back facing the viewer in 1996.4 is the most important symbol from Fang Lijun’s creations. The figure has appeared in only three works – first in 1991, then in 1995 – among which 1996.4 shares the title of the largest – at 2.5 metres in width – with 1995.2, of the M+ Sigg Collection. This museum-quality work will be appearing for the first time at auction. One of the leading figures of “Cynical Realism”, Fang Lijun’s paintings of mischievous, nonchalant bald figures in unrealistic and absurdist spaces are a profound expression of 1990s China.

[Evening Sale, 4 April]
Mao Xuhui (b. 1956) ’92 Paternalism (triptych) 1992, oil on canvas Each: 180 x 110 cm, overall: 180 x 330 cm Est. HK$6 – 10 million / US$770,000 – 1.3 million
The monumental triptych '92 Paternalism is a peak work from Mao Xuhui’s Paternalism Series. Beginning in 1988, the Paternalism Series took the form of family and self-portraits but later became entirely abstract. A milestone in Mao’s artistic career, the series influenced his famous Scissors Series. In '92 Paternalism, the artist employs three symbols – a key, a high-back chair, and a studded door – to realise an expressive masterpiece infused with the sociopolitical significance of freedom, authority and barriers. '92 Paternalism was shown at the Guangzhou First 1990s Biennial Art Fair, China’s first biennial.

[Day Sale, 5 April]
Gu Wenda (b. 1955) Exclamatory Word and Bound Human Innards Series: He! He! He! (triptych) 1986, oil on canvas Each: 200.4 x 125 cm, overall: 200.4 x 375 cm Est. HK$3.2 – 4 million / US$410,000 – 513,000

Exclamatory Word and Bound Human Innards Series: Ba! Ba! Ba! (triptych) 1987, oil on canvas Each 200.5 x 125.5 cm, overall 200.5 x 376.5 cm Est. HK$3.2 – 4 million / US$410,000 – 513,000
Gu Wenda is one of the most influential contemporary artists both within and outside China. As early as the ’85 New Wave, Gu was seen as an artist with an extreme “destructive power” manifested in his “endless appeal and endless challenge to the East and West at the same time,” and in his “endless self-betrayals.” Appearing at auction for the first time, Exclamatory Word and Bound Human Innards Series: He! He! He! and Exclamatory Word and Bound Human Innards Series: Ba! Ba! Ba! come from the series of the same name. Rarely offered at auction, works from this series include boldface written exclamations entangled with red abstract shapes representing human organs. The written characters appear to be torn apart and deconstructed, embodying the artist’s longstanding artistic philosophy.

Contemporary Japanese and Korean Abstract Art
Since the mid-20th century, Japan and Korea have pioneered new styles of abstract art in ways never before seen in Western art. Based on homegrown cultural traditions, the styles remain influential through to present day, unrivaled by any artistic developments of similar kinds. This spring, a meticulous selection of works by important Gutai Group artists including Shiraga Kazuo, Shimamoto Shozo, Tanaka Atsuko will be presented. Through the selected works, these revolutionary artists reassess painting, reimagine art with their bodies, and redefine possibilities of abstraction. The sale will also offer works by Korean and Japanese masters Lee Ufan and Kusama Yayoi, whose distinct styles reflect the spirit of Asian art when viewed in a global context.

Not-To-Be-Missed – Works by Emerging Young Chinese Artists
A new wave of emerging, young Chinese artists continues to receive attention at auction, as evidenced by the record-breaking results achieved for Jia Aili and Wang Guangle in Sotheby’s October 2014 sale of Contemporary Asian art. Breaking out new perspectives of the Chinese art world, these artists’ approaches are highly personalised yet indialogue with international trends. This season, Sotheby’s is proud to present a series of representative works by young Chinese artists including Jia Aili’s 10-meter-wide large-format triptych Good Morning, World; Wang Guangle’s Terrazzo 2003.5; MADEIN COMPANY’s Untitled; as well as works by Yuan Yuan, Chen Fei, Song Yuanyuan and Xie Molin, among others.

Contemporary Chinese Paining, Video and Photography from The Ullens Collection
Important contemporary Chinese art from the collection of Guy and Myriam Ullens de Schooten will be offered, including Yu Youhan’s museum-quality work 1986-3 from the 1980s, alongside a lineup of early contemporary video and photography works from the 1990s by Qiu Zhijie, Wang Jianwei, Yang Fudong, Xu Tan, Feng Mengbo and Chen Shaoxiong, all of which are rarely seen in the market.