Source: Shanghai Daily
Christie's Asian modern art auction harvests $45.5m
www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-30 15:37:53

    BEIJING, May 30 -- A 1960 oil painting by China-born Chu Teh-Chun
led a Hong Kong auction of Asian modern art by Christie's International
Plc that fetched a total of HK$353 million (US$45.5 million), double the
amount expected.

    "Village de pluie rouge, Maison de nuage blanc No. 53" by
Paris-based Chu went to an unidentified Asian collector for HK$25.9
million, four times the top-end estimate, Christie's said. "Amnesia and
Memory: Boy," a 2005 oil-painting by Zhang Xiaogang fetched HK$3.5
million, 12 times the official top estimate at Sunday's sale.

    "I was surprised it sold for that much," said Ken Yeh, deputy
chairman of Christie's Asia, in a phone interview. "I thought this
painting would sell for about HK$1.5 million."

    In the last two years, American and European bidders have begun
competing fiercely with local collectors for contemporary Chinese art.

    "Village de pluie" shows black ink lines on a blood-red background,
reminiscent of the sword movements of Chinese martial arts, Christie's said.

    Zhang, born in 1958 in China's southwestern province of Yunnan,
draws inspiration from private collections of old family photos, and
from charcoal portraits and sketches by street vendors in China.

    Among the 444 works by Asian artists auctioned in the sale, Yue
Minjun's 1995 work "Enchanted Spring," which depicts a grinning
androgyne in white heels and a striped T-shirt, sold for HK$4.8 million,
six times Christie's top estimate.

    In November, "Gweong-Gweong," a 1993 oil on canvas by Yue, a native
of China's northeastern oil-town of Daqing, fetched HK$4.9 million at
Christie's in Hong Kong, compared with a top estimate of HK$450,000.

    "Marilyn Monroe versus Chairman Mao," a red-and-white painting by
Korean artist Kim Dong-Yoo, sold for HK$2.6 million on Sunday, 26 times
the high-end estimate for the work.

    Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merpres's "Terrace affording a view of the
sea" sold for HK$13.6 million, the highest price for a Southeast Asian
piece. The Belgian-born artist, who died in 1958, portrayed Indonesian
women in his impressionistic piece.

    The sale was part of a five-day auction of art, ceramics and
jewelry by Christie's that ends on Thursday. The highlight is a Ming
Dynasty copper-red vase that's expected to fetch a record HK$60 million
when offered topday.

    Christie's and rival Sotheby's Holdings Inc hold auctions twice a
year in Hong Kong. London-based Christie's counts Hong Kong as its
third-biggest market after New York and London.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/30/content_4624167.htm

 

 

with kind regards,

Matthias Arnold (Art-Eastasia list)

http://www.chinaresource.org
http://www.fluktor.de

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