1997
1997 The Zhou Village by Wu Guanzhong
2016 SOLD for HK$ 236M including premium by Poly
narrated in 2020
Wu Guanzhong is a full range artist who integrated tradition and modernism. After the torments of the Cultural Revolution, he endeavored to make people love his native region, Jiangnan, south of the Yangtze River. He observes landscapes and villages by bringing the utmost importance to their geometric decomposition.
Suzhou is a big city enjoying 2,500 years of history. Wu took in 1983 as one of his favorite themes the Lion Grove Garden, with a texture of rocks that reaches the limits of abstraction. An ink and colors on paper 144 x 297 cm painted in 1988 was sold for RMB 144M including premium by China Guardian on June 2, 2019.
The Zhou village is also located in Suzhou. On April 4, 2016, Poly sold for HK $ 236M including premium a painting 148 x 297 cm made in 1997, which transposed to oil an ink and colors made in 1986. It is illustrated in the report of the sale shared by Art Market Monitor.
The old village is appealing to tourists, with its pattern of houses huddled together. Suzhou is the Venice of the East which amazed Marco Polo with its canals crossed by a multitude of small stone bridges.
The image is seen in a slightly plunging perspective. The village is symmetrical, with its central axis on the very narrow street leading to the bridge. The edge of the canal and the horizon form an oval, like in a fish eye photo. This harmony of curves is reinforced by the arched shapes of the bridge.
Suzhou is a big city enjoying 2,500 years of history. Wu took in 1983 as one of his favorite themes the Lion Grove Garden, with a texture of rocks that reaches the limits of abstraction. An ink and colors on paper 144 x 297 cm painted in 1988 was sold for RMB 144M including premium by China Guardian on June 2, 2019.
The Zhou village is also located in Suzhou. On April 4, 2016, Poly sold for HK $ 236M including premium a painting 148 x 297 cm made in 1997, which transposed to oil an ink and colors made in 1986. It is illustrated in the report of the sale shared by Art Market Monitor.
The old village is appealing to tourists, with its pattern of houses huddled together. Suzhou is the Venice of the East which amazed Marco Polo with its canals crossed by a multitude of small stone bridges.
The image is seen in a slightly plunging perspective. The village is symmetrical, with its central axis on the very narrow street leading to the bridge. The edge of the canal and the horizon form an oval, like in a fish eye photo. This harmony of curves is reinforced by the arched shapes of the bridge.
1997 Spider by BOURGEOIS
Intro
Within her old age, Louise Bourgeois remained hypersensitive to sexual ambiguity and sexual promiscuity. The carefully carved body of her spiders is a further female carnal symbol. By choosing this beast as a symbol of motherhood, she is not an artist of animals but indeed a highly disturbing surrealist artist.
1
3.26 m high, 2/6
2019 SOLD for $ 32M by Christie's
A spider 3.26 m high on a 7.56 x 7.06 m overall perimeter designed in 1996 was sculpted in steel and cast in bronze in 1997 in six copies plus one artist's proof and one variant in bronze.
The 2/6 was sold for $ 32M from a lower is estimated $ 25M by Christie's on May 15, 2019, lot 21 B.
The 2/6 was sold for $ 32M from a lower is estimated $ 25M by Christie's on May 15, 2019, lot 21 B.
2
3.26 m high 2/6
2015 SOLD for $ 28M by Christie's
On November 10, 2015, Christie's, sold for $ 28M the bronze 3/6 of the large variant 7.56 x 7.06 x 3.26 m, executed in 1997, lot 10B.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
3
Spider IV
2022 SOLD for HK$ 130M by Sotheby's
By realizing her spiders in bronze from 1995 Louise Bourgeois concretizes with an indestructible material her lifelong fantasies about the intrauterine relations. The cohort of these protective spiders form a deeply feminine surrealist universe. The bronzes are edited in six copies plus an artist's proof.
Spider I (127 x 117 x 31 cm) and II (185 x 185 x 57 cm) conceived in 1995 and Spider IV (203 x 180 x 53 cm) conceived in 1996 have a lowered body that invites to apply them on a wall. The right rear leg of Spider IV is folded simulating an upward walking. A Spider II edited in 1995 was sold for $ 11.6M by Christie's on November 15, 2017, lot 7 B.
Spider III (48 x 84 x 83 cm) designed in 1995 is raised on its legs and anticipates the gigantic bronzes of 1996 and 1997 that can be used as garden shelters. The culmination of this evolution is the 9.20 m high spider named Maman made in 1999 which can be used as a city monument.
The Spider IV number 2/6 from the 1997 original edition was sold by Sotheby's for $ 14.7M on November 16, 2017, lot 34 and for HK $ 130M on April 27, 2022, lot 1116. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Spider I (127 x 117 x 31 cm) and II (185 x 185 x 57 cm) conceived in 1995 and Spider IV (203 x 180 x 53 cm) conceived in 1996 have a lowered body that invites to apply them on a wall. The right rear leg of Spider IV is folded simulating an upward walking. A Spider II edited in 1995 was sold for $ 11.6M by Christie's on November 15, 2017, lot 7 B.
Spider III (48 x 84 x 83 cm) designed in 1995 is raised on its legs and anticipates the gigantic bronzes of 1996 and 1997 that can be used as garden shelters. The culmination of this evolution is the 9.20 m high spider named Maman made in 1999 which can be used as a city monument.
The Spider IV number 2/6 from the 1997 original edition was sold by Sotheby's for $ 14.7M on November 16, 2017, lot 34 and for HK $ 130M on April 27, 2022, lot 1116. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1997 The Suburbs of Arcadia
2018 SOLD for $ 21M including premium
Kerry James Marshall lives in Chicago. An activist for civil rights, he observes African-Americans who do not know how to create a community revealing their own culture. They have the same hobbies as the whites but their skin is invariably painted in a deep black that is a signature of his art.
Real estate projects in the suburbs sometimes name 'Garden' their ghettos which do not want to be identified as such. In 1994 Marshall executed a series of five monumental paintings titled Garden Project. He reinforces his political message with three additional works.
Made in 1997 the last of these three artworks is an acrylic and collage on canvas 275 x 400 cm, estimated $ 8M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 16, lot 5 A. Its title is Past Times, a subtle pun for Pastime to show that these characters do not really benefit from the contemporary world, even when they imitate the whites.
This scene is staged in an idyllic park offering golf and water sports. Far away skyscrapers indicate that it is somewhere in the suburbs. In the foreground on and around a plaid blanket a family enjoys a moment of rest.
The man is hitting a golf ball. The little girl with bunches tries to imitate him, with awkwardness. The woman is in traditional African clothes and the teenage boy does not want to be disturbed when he listens to his music. The dog is sleeping.
There are no whites in Marshall's world, not because he rejects them but rather because his social observation does not apply to them. It is somehow like giving a sequel to Seurat's Grande Jatte after firing the bourgeois. There is no doubt that this groundbreaking painting kept at the Art Institute of Chicago had a decisive influence on Marshall's narrative style.
Real estate projects in the suburbs sometimes name 'Garden' their ghettos which do not want to be identified as such. In 1994 Marshall executed a series of five monumental paintings titled Garden Project. He reinforces his political message with three additional works.
Made in 1997 the last of these three artworks is an acrylic and collage on canvas 275 x 400 cm, estimated $ 8M for sale by Sotheby's in New York on May 16, lot 5 A. Its title is Past Times, a subtle pun for Pastime to show that these characters do not really benefit from the contemporary world, even when they imitate the whites.
This scene is staged in an idyllic park offering golf and water sports. Far away skyscrapers indicate that it is somewhere in the suburbs. In the foreground on and around a plaid blanket a family enjoys a moment of rest.
The man is hitting a golf ball. The little girl with bunches tries to imitate him, with awkwardness. The woman is in traditional African clothes and the teenage boy does not want to be disturbed when he listens to his music. The dog is sleeping.
There are no whites in Marshall's world, not because he rejects them but rather because his social observation does not apply to them. It is somehow like giving a sequel to Seurat's Grande Jatte after firing the bourgeois. There is no doubt that this groundbreaking painting kept at the Art Institute of Chicago had a decisive influence on Marshall's narrative style.
1997 Ib Reading by Freud
2023 SOLD for £ 17M by Sotheby's
There is always some reason for Lucian Freud to execute a painting. Going older, he manages to reconcile himself with his memory including some regrets to have neglected his children.
His daughter Isobel "Ib" Boyt later said : "Each time I did a picture with him I swore I'd never do it again, but I then do because it is a way of having a relationship with my dad as well as there is a part of me that if he wants to paint me I am quite flattered".
Ib reading, oil on canvas 138 x 157 cm, was painted in 1997 when the father was 75 and the daughter 36.
Lucian usually took care that is sitter is comfortably positioned to go into the endless pose sessions. It is not the case in this painting. The open book is too far away for reading and she only has a gaze to it, held unbalanced on her lap.
The book is clearly identified as A la recherche du temps perdu by Proust. Lucian maliciously suggests that Ib is losing her time when posing for him.
He obviously also considers that the estrangement with his children during their youth was an irreparable missed time. That latter interpretation is confirmed by the appearance in the background of the chest where he kept the letters and photos from his own youth. It is too late : Ib is growing unglamorous, as evidenced in his signature impasto by the texture on her face and bare legs and feet.
Ib reading was sold for £ 17M by Sotheby's on March 1, 2023, lot 106. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
His daughter Isobel "Ib" Boyt later said : "Each time I did a picture with him I swore I'd never do it again, but I then do because it is a way of having a relationship with my dad as well as there is a part of me that if he wants to paint me I am quite flattered".
Ib reading, oil on canvas 138 x 157 cm, was painted in 1997 when the father was 75 and the daughter 36.
Lucian usually took care that is sitter is comfortably positioned to go into the endless pose sessions. It is not the case in this painting. The open book is too far away for reading and she only has a gaze to it, held unbalanced on her lap.
The book is clearly identified as A la recherche du temps perdu by Proust. Lucian maliciously suggests that Ib is losing her time when posing for him.
He obviously also considers that the estrangement with his children during their youth was an irreparable missed time. That latter interpretation is confirmed by the appearance in the background of the chest where he kept the letters and photos from his own youth. It is too late : Ib is growing unglamorous, as evidenced in his signature impasto by the texture on her face and bare legs and feet.
Ib reading was sold for £ 17M by Sotheby's on March 1, 2023, lot 106. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1997 Abstraction in the Lotus Pond
2016 SOLD for HK$ 106M including premium
Wu Guanzhong assured the transition between classicism and modernism in Chinese graphic art. He was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and the works of his early career are barely known. Like Zhang Daqian before him he had the merit of being a complete artist able to master a variety of techniques, styles and themes.
Wu was watching the earth as an environment for the lifestyle, from wide landscapes around the world up to tiny details in the blossoming trees. He successfully practiced oil painting and returned to the traditional ink when he wanted to position spots of pure colors.
1997 is a year of great creativity. Freed of threats at 78, he continues to explore many possibilities of the artistic language. The Zhou Village, sold for HK $ 236M including premium by Poly in April 2016, is an oil on canvas, the highest recorded auction price for a Chinese painting in that technique.
Wu also resolutely entered contemporary art through his practice of very large formats. I had previously discussed in this column an ink and colors on paper 144 x 368 cm also from 1997 that remained unsold at Poly in Beijing on 2 June 2012. Although I can not firmly prove it, I am convinced that it is the same artwork that is coming for sale by Poly in Hong Kong on October 3, lot 139.
The theme of the lotus pond is an excuse for a color balance that comes close to abstraction. The field is unlimited as in a Pollock. The bright spots compensate for the lack of perspective by suggesting the depth of the bottom. The leaves and their reflections are interwoven in a tight pattern.
Wu was watching the earth as an environment for the lifestyle, from wide landscapes around the world up to tiny details in the blossoming trees. He successfully practiced oil painting and returned to the traditional ink when he wanted to position spots of pure colors.
1997 is a year of great creativity. Freed of threats at 78, he continues to explore many possibilities of the artistic language. The Zhou Village, sold for HK $ 236M including premium by Poly in April 2016, is an oil on canvas, the highest recorded auction price for a Chinese painting in that technique.
Wu also resolutely entered contemporary art through his practice of very large formats. I had previously discussed in this column an ink and colors on paper 144 x 368 cm also from 1997 that remained unsold at Poly in Beijing on 2 June 2012. Although I can not firmly prove it, I am convinced that it is the same artwork that is coming for sale by Poly in Hong Kong on October 3, lot 139.
The theme of the lotus pond is an excuse for a color balance that comes close to abstraction. The field is unlimited as in a Pollock. The bright spots compensate for the lack of perspective by suggesting the depth of the bottom. The leaves and their reflections are interwoven in a tight pattern.
1997 The New Chinese Beauties
2018 SOLD for HK$ 83M including premium
On May 26 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells as lot 30 a 190 x 208 cm oil on canvas painted in 1997 by Chen Yifei, featuring four standing women with sophisticated and colorful long gowns.
The artwork is titled Beauties on Promenade by reference to a poem by Du Fu of the Tang era that glorified the elegant fashion of his time with embroidered silk dresses and jade ornaments on heads.
The artwork is titled Beauties on Promenade by reference to a poem by Du Fu of the Tang era that glorified the elegant fashion of his time with embroidered silk dresses and jade ornaments on heads.
1997 Nude by Lichtenstein
2022 SOLD for $ 10.3M by Phillips
Roy Lichtenstein died of pneumonia in September 1997, cutting short a new burst of creativity.
In the previous years, his figures took the excuse of imagining the private life of the modern woman in full nudity in her furnished apartment.
Nude, oil and magna 210 x 114 cm painted in 2017, displays a life size woman quietly standing in the nude in a surrounding reduced to a corner from some furniture. The right angled arms in an arguing attitude justify the straight back.
The signature technique of the artist to provide the contrasts through ben-day dots here results in close inspection to unwanted smallpox stains in the face. The continuity of the dots between hair and back wall is surrealistic.
As usual Roy took his subject from a photo of a magazine. The gorgeous pale blue haired is arguably the blonde sex symbol Pamela Anderson, while she is also inspired in her perfect nude outlines from Praxiteles's Aphrodite.
Nude was sold for $ 10.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Phillips on May 18, 2022, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In the previous years, his figures took the excuse of imagining the private life of the modern woman in full nudity in her furnished apartment.
Nude, oil and magna 210 x 114 cm painted in 2017, displays a life size woman quietly standing in the nude in a surrounding reduced to a corner from some furniture. The right angled arms in an arguing attitude justify the straight back.
The signature technique of the artist to provide the contrasts through ben-day dots here results in close inspection to unwanted smallpox stains in the face. The continuity of the dots between hair and back wall is surrealistic.
As usual Roy took his subject from a photo of a magazine. The gorgeous pale blue haired is arguably the blonde sex symbol Pamela Anderson, while she is also inspired in her perfect nude outlines from Praxiteles's Aphrodite.
Nude was sold for $ 10.3M from a lower estimate of $ 8M by Phillips on May 18, 2022, lot 19. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1997 McLaren F1
2013 SOLD for $ 8.5M including premium by Gooding
narrated in 2014 before the auction of another car by Gooding (see below)
Technical director at McLaren since 1987, Gordon Murray convinced his bosses to develop the best grand touring car of all time. The project is named F1 for announcing that the same care should be taken in the design and manufacture of this coupe as for a formula 1 car.
The first prototype was unveiled in Monaco in 1992, starting the era of the supercars. Until the end of production in 1998, it was a complete technical success. McLaren had built the world's fastest production car only rivaled still now by the supercars of most recent time.
The F1 is the first production car with a carbon fiber monocoque chassis. The cockpit offers an exceptional visibility in the driving position with a central pilote seat and two lateral seats slightly behind for the passengers. As for the great berlinettas and coupes made by Ferrari and Ford in the 1960s, the shape of the bodywork is superb.
For the first time probably in the history of the automobile, some of the first owners maintained their car as if it were a work of art, anticipating the passion for supercars led ten years later by the Bugatti Veyron.
An F1 made in 1997 was sold for $ 8.5M including premium by Gooding on August 17, 2013, lot 51. With only 14,000 miles from new, it had its original paint in magnesium silver color along with its original toolbox and documentation. Here is the link to the pre sale press release.
An F1 made in 1995 passed at Gooding on August 16, 2014.
The first prototype was unveiled in Monaco in 1992, starting the era of the supercars. Until the end of production in 1998, it was a complete technical success. McLaren had built the world's fastest production car only rivaled still now by the supercars of most recent time.
The F1 is the first production car with a carbon fiber monocoque chassis. The cockpit offers an exceptional visibility in the driving position with a central pilote seat and two lateral seats slightly behind for the passengers. As for the great berlinettas and coupes made by Ferrari and Ford in the 1960s, the shape of the bodywork is superb.
For the first time probably in the history of the automobile, some of the first owners maintained their car as if it were a work of art, anticipating the passion for supercars led ten years later by the Bugatti Veyron.
An F1 made in 1997 was sold for $ 8.5M including premium by Gooding on August 17, 2013, lot 51. With only 14,000 miles from new, it had its original paint in magnesium silver color along with its original toolbox and documentation. Here is the link to the pre sale press release.
An F1 made in 1995 passed at Gooding on August 16, 2014.
