China
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Song Yuan Ming Qianlong Modern China Buddhism Chinese calligraphy Chinese art Mountains in China Textiles Chinese porcelain Qing porcelain Abstract art II Zao Wou-Ki Dragon Animals Bird Landscape Cities
Chronology : 1000-1300 14th century 15th century 1400-1429 17th century 1610-1619 18th century 1740-1749 1760-1769 20th century 1920-1929 1925 1940-1949 1946 1955 1980-1989 1985
See also : Song Yuan Ming Qianlong Modern China Buddhism Chinese calligraphy Chinese art Mountains in China Textiles Chinese porcelain Qing porcelain Abstract art II Zao Wou-Ki Dragon Animals Bird Landscape Cities
Chronology : 1000-1300 14th century 15th century 1400-1429 17th century 1610-1619 18th century 1740-1749 1760-1769 20th century 1920-1929 1925 1940-1949 1946 1955 1980-1989 1985
Northern Song - Wood and Rock by Su Shi
2018 SOLD for HK$ 460M by Christie's
Under the Song, the literati are philosophers and humanists who sometimes have the audacity to oppose imperial politics. Their supreme mode of expression is calligraphy, which conveys to their readers the firmness and rhythm of their thought.
In 1071 CE, Su Shi had been expelled from the capital, starting at the age of 34 a second career as a provincial servant with increasingly mediocre missions despite his immense talent. He died in 1101. His younger friend Mi Fu escaped political persecution by his reputation for eccentricity. They were the two best calligraphers in their lifetime.
A nine-character autograph message on a 28 x 9.5 cm sheet sent by Su Shi to the governor of a locality that he was leaving was sold for $ 8.2M by Sotheby's on September 19, 2013.
Graphic art is exceptional in their works. The movement of the artist's hand is the same as for calligraphy. The rare drawings by Su Shi translate emotions too deep to be expressed in words. Mi Fu will only paint in the last years of his life, mostly after Su Shi's death.
On November 26, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 460M as lot 8008 a 26 x 50 cm ink on paper painted by Su Shi. This piece is extended by many colophons including an appreciation calligraphed by Mi Fu, and includes many seals. Please watch two videos shared by the auction house.
The image consists of two elements that join together : a leafless tree twisted into several undulations and a bulky rock. The dryness of the tree expresses the desolation of the artist in his exile while at the opposite edge on the left flank of the rock the sparse bamboos bring the hope of a new vitality.
In 1071 CE, Su Shi had been expelled from the capital, starting at the age of 34 a second career as a provincial servant with increasingly mediocre missions despite his immense talent. He died in 1101. His younger friend Mi Fu escaped political persecution by his reputation for eccentricity. They were the two best calligraphers in their lifetime.
A nine-character autograph message on a 28 x 9.5 cm sheet sent by Su Shi to the governor of a locality that he was leaving was sold for $ 8.2M by Sotheby's on September 19, 2013.
Graphic art is exceptional in their works. The movement of the artist's hand is the same as for calligraphy. The rare drawings by Su Shi translate emotions too deep to be expressed in words. Mi Fu will only paint in the last years of his life, mostly after Su Shi's death.
On November 26, 2018, Christie's sold for HK $ 460M as lot 8008 a 26 x 50 cm ink on paper painted by Su Shi. This piece is extended by many colophons including an appreciation calligraphed by Mi Fu, and includes many seals. Please watch two videos shared by the auction house.
The image consists of two elements that join together : a leafless tree twisted into several undulations and a bulky rock. The dryness of the tree expresses the desolation of the artist in his exile while at the opposite edge on the left flank of the rock the sparse bamboos bring the hope of a new vitality.
Christie’s Announces 1000-year-old $50m Su Shi Scroll https://t.co/eVdovdYFyr pic.twitter.com/XpeTTOdBby
— Art Market Monitor (@artmarket) August 30, 2018
1095 Calligraphy of a Tang poem
2010 SOLD for RMB 436M by Poly
A scroll of paper from Song period was sold for RMB 436M by Poly on June 3, 2010. It is completely covered with characters drawn in ink by Huang Tingjian, one of the most famous master calligraphers of his time. It is a fine example of his art consisting of semi-cursive letters in an energetic and accentuated style. Depending on location, this text includes from 4 to 15 characters within the height.
Completed around 1095 CE, this scroll is 37 cm high with a length exceeding 8 m, 15 m including the colohons contains 600 characters of which some examples are presented in the article shared by China Daily. Titled Di Zhu Ming, it is a copy of a Tang poem. It includes a small portrait of the calligrapher artist.
Completed around 1095 CE, this scroll is 37 cm high with a length exceeding 8 m, 15 m including the colohons contains 600 characters of which some examples are presented in the article shared by China Daily. Titled Di Zhu Ming, it is a copy of a Tang poem. It includes a small portrait of the calligrapher artist.
1244 Six Dragons attributed to Chen Rong
2017 SOLD for $ 49M by Christie's
The dragons, symbols of the emperor and his family, know how to confront the forces of nature. Their sinuous bodies sail like in weightlessness amidst clouds and waves. The varied expressions of their faces are always vigorous.
The hand scroll is an art much more refined than a mere drawing. The image is read from right to left as it is unfolded, offering the scene of a real action. The paper should also be exquisite in the touch.
Towards the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the artist Chen Rong pushed his ink pictures of dragons to the rank of masterpieces. His scrolls were much admired by the Qianlong emperor who commented on the colophons and stamped his seals.
The drawing of the fabulous beast by Chen Rong is sharp and detailed, in contrast to its wet surrounding realized by an original method of ink spraying. In the Taoist tradition, such a scene is a magical summon to rain.
The Boston Museum retains a scroll starring nine young sons of the Dragon King, 46 cm high for 15 m long, including on the painting two autograph inscriptions that provide an estimate of the date of the artwork at 1244 of our calendar.
A scroll featuring six dragons in a style similar as in the Boston specimen was sold for $ 49M from a lower estimate of $ 1.2M by Christie's on March 15, 2017 after deaccession from the Fujita Museum in Osaka, lot 507. Signed by one seal of the artist, it is 35 cm high with a length of 4.40 m for the image and 83 cm for the calligraphy. It is handled for our pleasure in the video shared by the auction house.
The hand scroll is an art much more refined than a mere drawing. The image is read from right to left as it is unfolded, offering the scene of a real action. The paper should also be exquisite in the touch.
Towards the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the artist Chen Rong pushed his ink pictures of dragons to the rank of masterpieces. His scrolls were much admired by the Qianlong emperor who commented on the colophons and stamped his seals.
The drawing of the fabulous beast by Chen Rong is sharp and detailed, in contrast to its wet surrounding realized by an original method of ink spraying. In the Taoist tradition, such a scene is a magical summon to rain.
The Boston Museum retains a scroll starring nine young sons of the Dragon King, 46 cm high for 15 m long, including on the painting two autograph inscriptions that provide an estimate of the date of the artwork at 1244 of our calendar.
A scroll featuring six dragons in a style similar as in the Boston specimen was sold for $ 49M from a lower estimate of $ 1.2M by Christie's on March 15, 2017 after deaccession from the Fujita Museum in Osaka, lot 507. Signed by one seal of the artist, it is 35 cm high with a length of 4.40 m for the image and 83 cm for the calligraphy. It is handled for our pleasure in the video shared by the auction house.
Six Dragons handscroll attributed to Chen Rong, from the Fujita Museum sold for $48,967,500 against high estimate of $1.8m #AsianArtWeek pic.twitter.com/rbMbIyub5P
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) March 15, 2017
1350 Ge Zhichuan Relocating by Wang Meng
2011 SOLD for RMB 400M by Poly
The Chinese culture comes from a very strong literary tradition mixed with mysticism. In the 11th century CE, Mi Fu opened the way to the themes of the literate landscape, and for several centuries the graphic arts were often devoted to these ancient stories.
A maternal grandson of Zhao Mengfu, Wang Meng is one of the four great literati masters of the Yuan dynasty. He incorporated the techniques of Tang and Song dynasties. He survived the Yuan but was accused to support a rebellion against the Ming emperor and died in jail.
In the theme of the immensity of nature contemplated by the sage, Wang practiced two opposite styles in a single artwork. The human dwellings and occupationals are rendered in a sharp drawing of very thin brushstroke. The lush surrounding of trees and mountains provides the feeling of infinity in a very dense texture. The bare rocks escape the realism for providing an unbalanced emotion.
On June 4, 2011, Poly sold for RMB 400M a hanging scroll painted in ink and wash circa 1350 CE by Wang Meng on the theme of the migration of Ge Hong to the sacred mountains. The provenance of this artwork has been established over six centuries. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Ge Hong, also named Ge Zhichuan, lived 1,000 years before Wang in the Eastern Jin dynasty. Nicknamed the Little Immortal Old Man, he was an alchemist, a doctor and above all a Taoist master. He was going to study the secrets of immortality in the Luofu mountains. He stayed there for eight years. The image by Wang shows Ge and his suite passing through a valley under a very rocky landscape. Seven poems have been added.
A maternal grandson of Zhao Mengfu, Wang Meng is one of the four great literati masters of the Yuan dynasty. He incorporated the techniques of Tang and Song dynasties. He survived the Yuan but was accused to support a rebellion against the Ming emperor and died in jail.
In the theme of the immensity of nature contemplated by the sage, Wang practiced two opposite styles in a single artwork. The human dwellings and occupationals are rendered in a sharp drawing of very thin brushstroke. The lush surrounding of trees and mountains provides the feeling of infinity in a very dense texture. The bare rocks escape the realism for providing an unbalanced emotion.
On June 4, 2011, Poly sold for RMB 400M a hanging scroll painted in ink and wash circa 1350 CE by Wang Meng on the theme of the migration of Ge Hong to the sacred mountains. The provenance of this artwork has been established over six centuries. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
Ge Hong, also named Ge Zhichuan, lived 1,000 years before Wang in the Eastern Jin dynasty. Nicknamed the Little Immortal Old Man, he was an alchemist, a doctor and above all a Taoist master. He was going to study the secrets of immortality in the Luofu mountains. He stayed there for eight years. The image by Wang shows Ge and his suite passing through a valley under a very rocky landscape. Seven poems have been added.
Buddhist Thangka presented by the Yongle Emperor
2014 SOLD for HK$ 350M by Christie's
Hongwu had founded the Ming Dynasty by relying upon Buddhist sects. His fourth son, the Prince of Yan, was an able and competent general. Too competent indeed : the old emperor found a subterfuge for removing him from the rule of succession.
The Prince took power in a coup four years later, 1402 in our calendar. His nephew, who perished in the fire of the imperial palace after having revived the feudal war, was scholar minded and supported by the Confucians. The new emperor erased from the annals the reign of his predecessor of whom he massacred the followers, took the name Yongle meaning Perpetual Happiness and immediately began to prepare for the transfer of the capital from Nanking to Beijing.
The ambitious Yongle could not appear as a usurper : he offered to himself a Buddhist legitimacy. He invited the Karmapa, who was one of the most important sages of Tibetan Buddhism and got his power through reincarnation.
The trip of the Karmapa from Tibet to Nanking lasted four years, during which Yongle organized the Buddhist tribute to his deceased parents and prepared lavish gifts. The stories of miracles performed by the Karmapa were propagated and contributed effectively to assure the power of Yongle, now firmly established as Hongwu's heir.
On November 26, 2014, Christie's sold for HK $ 350M a wonderful silk thangka embroidered with silk and gold threads, lot 3001. This monumental piece 3.35 x 2.13 m is in perfect condition with bright colors of great beauty.
According to the concerns of Yongle, its theme is the victory over death. The central character with a bright red head is Raktayamari, the Conqueror of Death, who embraces his wife and mercilessly tramples the blue body of Yama the Lord of Death lying on the back of a buffalo. The top and bottom of the image display some deities inviting to Buddhist devotion.
This piece includes the presentation mark of Yongle. The existence of two thangkas of same quality in a monastery in Lhasa along with the fact that the thangka for sale was in Sikkim in the 1940s reinforces the assumption that it had actually accompanied the Karmapa in his return trip.
The Prince took power in a coup four years later, 1402 in our calendar. His nephew, who perished in the fire of the imperial palace after having revived the feudal war, was scholar minded and supported by the Confucians. The new emperor erased from the annals the reign of his predecessor of whom he massacred the followers, took the name Yongle meaning Perpetual Happiness and immediately began to prepare for the transfer of the capital from Nanking to Beijing.
The ambitious Yongle could not appear as a usurper : he offered to himself a Buddhist legitimacy. He invited the Karmapa, who was one of the most important sages of Tibetan Buddhism and got his power through reincarnation.
The trip of the Karmapa from Tibet to Nanking lasted four years, during which Yongle organized the Buddhist tribute to his deceased parents and prepared lavish gifts. The stories of miracles performed by the Karmapa were propagated and contributed effectively to assure the power of Yongle, now firmly established as Hongwu's heir.
On November 26, 2014, Christie's sold for HK $ 350M a wonderful silk thangka embroidered with silk and gold threads, lot 3001. This monumental piece 3.35 x 2.13 m is in perfect condition with bright colors of great beauty.
According to the concerns of Yongle, its theme is the victory over death. The central character with a bright red head is Raktayamari, the Conqueror of Death, who embraces his wife and mercilessly tramples the blue body of Yama the Lord of Death lying on the back of a buffalo. The top and bottom of the image display some deities inviting to Buddhist devotion.
This piece includes the presentation mark of Yongle. The existence of two thangkas of same quality in a monastery in Lhasa along with the fact that the thangka for sale was in Sikkim in the 1940s reinforces the assumption that it had actually accompanied the Karmapa in his return trip.
1610 Lingbi Stone by Wu Bin
2020 SOLD for RMB 510M by Poly
The gongshi is the rock of the literati. The erosion of the limestone has created strange shapes, simulating twisted columns rising to the sky. The larger ones are beloved ornaments in Chinese gardens. Lingbi, in Anshan province, is one of the three main deposits.
Mi Wanzhong, a painter and calligrapher, is a passionate collector whose artist name is Youshi, the friend of stones. Around 1610 CE he acquires an extraordinary Lingbi stone 50 cm high, simulating a forest with spectacular shrinkages and branches. He considers his artistic skills to be inadequate and calls his friend Wu Bin.
Wu Bin studies the stone for a month. His ten drawings display the specimen from all angles, with great precision of line and beautiful contrasts providing a superb texture effect. Each image is flanked by text.
Each of the ten elements measures 55 x 115 cm, for a total uninterrupted length of 11.5 m. The handscroll also includes two introductions respectively 26 x 112 cm and 48 x 143 cm and an epilogue 55 cm x 11.3 m with colophons.
Ten Views of a Lingbi Stone was sold for RMB 510M by Poly on October 18, 2020, lot 3922, after nearly an hour of bidding. It is illustrated with some enlarged details in the post sale report published by The Value. Please watch the much detailed video shared by Norton Museum of Art.
The Lingbi stone which served as a model only survived the ravages of time for a few decades.
Mi Wanzhong, a painter and calligrapher, is a passionate collector whose artist name is Youshi, the friend of stones. Around 1610 CE he acquires an extraordinary Lingbi stone 50 cm high, simulating a forest with spectacular shrinkages and branches. He considers his artistic skills to be inadequate and calls his friend Wu Bin.
Wu Bin studies the stone for a month. His ten drawings display the specimen from all angles, with great precision of line and beautiful contrasts providing a superb texture effect. Each image is flanked by text.
Each of the ten elements measures 55 x 115 cm, for a total uninterrupted length of 11.5 m. The handscroll also includes two introductions respectively 26 x 112 cm and 48 x 143 cm and an epilogue 55 cm x 11.3 m with colophons.
Ten Views of a Lingbi Stone was sold for RMB 510M by Poly on October 18, 2020, lot 3922, after nearly an hour of bidding. It is illustrated with some enlarged details in the post sale report published by The Value. Please watch the much detailed video shared by Norton Museum of Art.
The Lingbi stone which served as a model only survived the ravages of time for a few decades.
1743 Qianlong reticulated vase
2010 UNPAID at £ 43M plus a buyer's premium of £ 8.6M, by Bainbridges
In 1728 CE, Tang Ying is appointed by the Yongzheng emperor as the Superintendent of the Imperial porcelain produced at Jingdezhen. He spends several years observing the best practices of the potters. One of his first major successes is the development of the yangcai, offering a less expensive substitute to the Imperial City's falangcai that remains the high end.
These first years are experimental, with pieces of all shapes. Qianlong who succeeds Yongzheng in 1735 CE is just as demanding as his father. To please him, they must constantly bring novelties that match his ambitious role as Son of Heaven, accumulating the styles of all dynasties and integrating the new European trends.
In the early 1740s Tang Ying's expertise in Jingdezhen has no limits. The most complicated pieces are technological syntheses that require a long succession of firings at the risk of a low yield.
In a memorandum submitted to Qianlong in 1743 CE, Tang Ying apologizes for the small amount of units produced in the new style of double vase, only nine. The inner part is enclosed in the outer vase with a distance of about 3 to 4 cm between their walls. The outer vase is pierced by large holes of various elegant shapes that allow the peeping to the inner part. The exterior is decorated with the same profusion as more classical imperial pieces.
Qianlong does not request the impossible. He authorizes to complete in pairs those models that had been produced in single pieces before suspending this technique sine die.
A reticulated vase with pairs of fishes surfaced in Middlesex in 2010. 40 cm high, it mixes archaic, Song, Buddhist and rocaille inspirations, juxtaposing the classic celadon and the modern yangcai in a yellow ground with sgraffiato. The inner wall is a blue and white in Ming style. After 30 minutes of bidding, Bainbridges's hammer fell at £ 43M, £ 51.6M including the premium, but the payment failed and the sale was cancelled. Here is the link to the 2012 report by The Telegraph before the sale was cancelled.
In 2010 nobody had considered the catalog of the exhibition in New York in 1905 of a Japanese collection where its pairing piece had been photographed and described. This vase has resurfaced. It was sold for HK $ 150M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2018, lot 3001. It differs from the Middlesex specimen by a rarer variant of the reign mark and so may be the master item produced for that pair.
These first years are experimental, with pieces of all shapes. Qianlong who succeeds Yongzheng in 1735 CE is just as demanding as his father. To please him, they must constantly bring novelties that match his ambitious role as Son of Heaven, accumulating the styles of all dynasties and integrating the new European trends.
In the early 1740s Tang Ying's expertise in Jingdezhen has no limits. The most complicated pieces are technological syntheses that require a long succession of firings at the risk of a low yield.
In a memorandum submitted to Qianlong in 1743 CE, Tang Ying apologizes for the small amount of units produced in the new style of double vase, only nine. The inner part is enclosed in the outer vase with a distance of about 3 to 4 cm between their walls. The outer vase is pierced by large holes of various elegant shapes that allow the peeping to the inner part. The exterior is decorated with the same profusion as more classical imperial pieces.
Qianlong does not request the impossible. He authorizes to complete in pairs those models that had been produced in single pieces before suspending this technique sine die.
A reticulated vase with pairs of fishes surfaced in Middlesex in 2010. 40 cm high, it mixes archaic, Song, Buddhist and rocaille inspirations, juxtaposing the classic celadon and the modern yangcai in a yellow ground with sgraffiato. The inner wall is a blue and white in Ming style. After 30 minutes of bidding, Bainbridges's hammer fell at £ 43M, £ 51.6M including the premium, but the payment failed and the sale was cancelled. Here is the link to the 2012 report by The Telegraph before the sale was cancelled.
In 2010 nobody had considered the catalog of the exhibition in New York in 1905 of a Japanese collection where its pairing piece had been photographed and described. This vase has resurfaced. It was sold for HK $ 150M from a lower estimate of HK $ 50M by Sotheby's on October 3, 2018, lot 3001. It differs from the Middlesex specimen by a rarer variant of the reign mark and so may be the master item produced for that pair.
1764 Pacification of the Western Regions by Xu Yang
2021 SOLD for RMB 410M by Poly
From the 20th to 24th year of Qianlong matching 1755 to 1759 CE, the emperor ordered three military campaigns for the control of the border Xinjiang region and the destruction of the Dzungars.
Xu Yang was a court artist. A handscroll 43 x 1860 cm in bright colors on paper is titled Picture of the Presentation of the Captives for the Pacification of the Western Regions. Commissioned by the emperor, it depicts scenes in Beijing during a military ceremony in the Qing palace after the victories. His sense of perspective and figuration were influenced by European art.
This detailed topographic picture leads the viewer from Zhengyang gate to the Forbidden City through Tiananmen Square. Crowds are displayed alongside lines of guards and flag bearers.
According to the archives Xu Yang should have completed this painting before the 29th year of Qianlong's reign, 1764 CE.
This piece was originally displayed with brocade wrapping in the imperial palace and bears several seals of Qianlong. It was sold for RMB 134M by Sungari in 2009 and for RMB 410M by Poly on June 6, 2021, lot 1935 and is illustrated in the post sale report shared by CNN. Two details are illustrated in the tweet below.
Xu Yang was a court artist. A handscroll 43 x 1860 cm in bright colors on paper is titled Picture of the Presentation of the Captives for the Pacification of the Western Regions. Commissioned by the emperor, it depicts scenes in Beijing during a military ceremony in the Qing palace after the victories. His sense of perspective and figuration were influenced by European art.
This detailed topographic picture leads the viewer from Zhengyang gate to the Forbidden City through Tiananmen Square. Crowds are displayed alongside lines of guards and flag bearers.
According to the archives Xu Yang should have completed this painting before the 29th year of Qianlong's reign, 1764 CE.
This piece was originally displayed with brocade wrapping in the imperial palace and bears several seals of Qianlong. It was sold for RMB 134M by Sungari in 2009 and for RMB 410M by Poly on June 6, 2021, lot 1935 and is illustrated in the post sale report shared by CNN. Two details are illustrated in the tweet below.
Maybe the most expensive item in the coming Beijing Spring Auction:
— China in Pictures (@tongbingxue) May 17, 2021
Settling Down the Western Regions and Presenting Prisoners,
hand scroll by court artist Xu Yang, Qianlong Period (1736-1796), 1,800 cm wide, Poly Auction, POR. pic.twitter.com/SJqs7nM4DR
1925 Twelve Landscapes by Qi Baishi
2017 SOLD for RMB 930M by Poly
The traditional Chinese graphic art is an uninterrupted series of imitations of the old masters. Bada Shanren's eccentric approach at the very beginning of the Qing dynasty is a rare exception.
Born in Hunan province into a family of poor peasants, Qi Baishi was self-taught. Settled in Beijing at the age of 53 in 1917, he drew inspiration from Bada Shanren to develop a vigorous and spontaneous line, reaching poetry through a free realism. His greatest innovation is the use of inks in very bright colors.
His themes are varied while being ordinary and peaceful : landscapes, trees, countless small things. He paints according to his own observations, is not interested in symbols and allegories and does not follow Bada Shanren in the rebellion.
Qi Baishi executed in 1925 a monumental series of twelve vertical panels in light blue, gray, brown and pink on paper 180 x 47 cm each. The simple graphic style is inspired from Bada Shanren amended by the teaching of Wu Changshuo. The painting technique combines outline and splashing of ink, with bright colors in between. Calligraphed poems are included.
They manage to express the variety of mountains, villages and blossoming trees, as evidenced by the twelve individual titles (Google translation from Chinese) : "Houses on the River", "Double Shadows of Rocks", "Lonely Sail on Banqiao", "Cypress Trees", "Afterglow on the Far Shore", "Pine Trees and White Houses", "Apricots" "Flower and Grass Hall", "Fir Tree Tower", "Deep Smoke and Shadow of Sail", "Spring Rain in the Mountains", "Mangroves and White Spring", "Bantang Lotus Fragrance".
The full set had been presented by the artist to a doctor in Beijing who specialized in treating senior Kuomintang officials and also artists and literati. It was sold for RMB 930M from a lower estimate of RMB 500M by Poly on December 17, 2017, lot 2806. The image is shared by China Daily.
There is only one other similar set. Painted in 1932, it is kept in a museum in Chongqing.
Born in Hunan province into a family of poor peasants, Qi Baishi was self-taught. Settled in Beijing at the age of 53 in 1917, he drew inspiration from Bada Shanren to develop a vigorous and spontaneous line, reaching poetry through a free realism. His greatest innovation is the use of inks in very bright colors.
His themes are varied while being ordinary and peaceful : landscapes, trees, countless small things. He paints according to his own observations, is not interested in symbols and allegories and does not follow Bada Shanren in the rebellion.
Qi Baishi executed in 1925 a monumental series of twelve vertical panels in light blue, gray, brown and pink on paper 180 x 47 cm each. The simple graphic style is inspired from Bada Shanren amended by the teaching of Wu Changshuo. The painting technique combines outline and splashing of ink, with bright colors in between. Calligraphed poems are included.
They manage to express the variety of mountains, villages and blossoming trees, as evidenced by the twelve individual titles (Google translation from Chinese) : "Houses on the River", "Double Shadows of Rocks", "Lonely Sail on Banqiao", "Cypress Trees", "Afterglow on the Far Shore", "Pine Trees and White Houses", "Apricots" "Flower and Grass Hall", "Fir Tree Tower", "Deep Smoke and Shadow of Sail", "Spring Rain in the Mountains", "Mangroves and White Spring", "Bantang Lotus Fragrance".
The full set had been presented by the artist to a doctor in Beijing who specialized in treating senior Kuomintang officials and also artists and literati. It was sold for RMB 930M from a lower estimate of RMB 500M by Poly on December 17, 2017, lot 2806. The image is shared by China Daily.
There is only one other similar set. Painted in 1932, it is kept in a museum in Chongqing.
1946 Eagle by Qi Baishi
2011 SOLD for RMB 425M by China Guardian (unpaid)
A drawing by Qi Baishi had been auctioned for RMB 425M by China Guardian on May 22, 2011, lot 1192. It features an eagle standing in a pine tree.
The composition is bold : the bird is completely surrounded by branches, but its proud look makes it the focal point of this image of 266 x 100 cm, flanked by two stripes 66 cm wide. Each stripe includes a poem in four huge calligrams.
It is a political symbol. This eagle was made in 1946 to celebrate the birthday of Jiang Jieshi (pinyin for Chiang Kai-shek) after the defeat of Japan.
Two years after the sale by Chinese Antiques : the winning bidder has refused to pay for the piece since doubts were raised about its authenticity.
The composition is bold : the bird is completely surrounded by branches, but its proud look makes it the focal point of this image of 266 x 100 cm, flanked by two stripes 66 cm wide. Each stripe includes a poem in four huge calligrams.
It is a political symbol. This eagle was made in 1946 to celebrate the birthday of Jiang Jieshi (pinyin for Chiang Kai-shek) after the defeat of Japan.
Two years after the sale by Chinese Antiques : the winning bidder has refused to pay for the piece since doubts were raised about its authenticity.
1955 View in Huangshan by Huang Binhong
2017 SOLD for RMB 345M by China Guardian
Chinese graphic art was not a monopoly for the professional artists. The literati had other occupations and did not need to sell their art. Still better : they have contributed by their appreciation of ancient cultures to the remarkable homogeneity of Chinese art throughout the historical period and almost to present day. In this sense the old man who brought to an unprecedented perfection in the early 1950s the very traditional landscape in ink on hanging scroll was not an artist.
Native from Zhejiang province, Huang Binhong had many passions centered on letters and ancient arts including calligraphy. He collected and carved seals, practiced fencing and played guqin. He made drawings since his youth and his favorite theme was the sublime Huangshan mountains which he visited nine times from 1883 to 1935.
Huang worked as an editor and illustrator and also as an art professor. In 1948, aged 85, he settled in Hangzhou where his teaching activity certainly left him more free time. It was from that point that he perfected the art of landscape.
He no longer travels in the mountains and works with memory and imagination, favoring the expression instead of the realism. Like the greatest masters, he does not need a preparatory drawing and does not erase. His full mastery of the width of the line generates superb contrasts enhanced by a skillful use of the voids to show mist and brook. The density of the lines reminds the Dürer hare and the overall composition is well balanced.
Huang had the nice practice of dating some of his works by his age. A view in Huangshan is dated to his 92 years, corresponding to 1955 just before his death. This 171 x 96 cm scroll was sold for RMB 345M from a lower estimate of RMB 80M by China Guardian on June 19, 2017, lot 706.
Another scenery realized in the same year, 178 x 74 cm, was sold for RMB 63M by China Guardian on May 18, 2014. It remembers the emotion of the artist comparing in an earlier trip the real view of the mountain with its interpretation by an artist of the Yuan period. The lower estimate that had been announced at RMB 12M attests a posteriori that the extreme quality of the ultimate art of Huang was rediscovered at that sale.
Native from Zhejiang province, Huang Binhong had many passions centered on letters and ancient arts including calligraphy. He collected and carved seals, practiced fencing and played guqin. He made drawings since his youth and his favorite theme was the sublime Huangshan mountains which he visited nine times from 1883 to 1935.
Huang worked as an editor and illustrator and also as an art professor. In 1948, aged 85, he settled in Hangzhou where his teaching activity certainly left him more free time. It was from that point that he perfected the art of landscape.
He no longer travels in the mountains and works with memory and imagination, favoring the expression instead of the realism. Like the greatest masters, he does not need a preparatory drawing and does not erase. His full mastery of the width of the line generates superb contrasts enhanced by a skillful use of the voids to show mist and brook. The density of the lines reminds the Dürer hare and the overall composition is well balanced.
Huang had the nice practice of dating some of his works by his age. A view in Huangshan is dated to his 92 years, corresponding to 1955 just before his death. This 171 x 96 cm scroll was sold for RMB 345M from a lower estimate of RMB 80M by China Guardian on June 19, 2017, lot 706.
Another scenery realized in the same year, 178 x 74 cm, was sold for RMB 63M by China Guardian on May 18, 2014. It remembers the emotion of the artist comparing in an earlier trip the real view of the mountain with its interpretation by an artist of the Yuan period. The lower estimate that had been announced at RMB 12M attests a posteriori that the extreme quality of the ultimate art of Huang was rediscovered at that sale.
1985 Juin-Octobre 1985 by Zao Wou-Ki
2018 SOLD for HK$ 510M by Sotheby's
The architect I.M. Pei has considerably influenced the style of the great modern cities. When his fame becomes international, he revisits his native China. In the 1970s the Far East no longer wants its urbanism to follow the West. They always desire higher, more spectacular, more functional. Pei is building an office skyscraper 198 meters high in Singapore.
Zao Wou-Ki also made his own return to his sources. In the 1980s the originality of his abstract paintings inspired by East and West met with great success in the Far East.
Pei is creating in Singapore a complex named Raffles City based on a tower and two hotels, and incorporating a shopping center and a convention center. In 1985 the project is advanced enough to anticipate the interior design. Zao is traveling in the Far East. Pei makes him visit the Raffles site and commissions him a gigantic painting for adorning the grand lobby of the main building alongside abstractions by Ellsworth Kelly and Kenneth Noland in the minimalist taste of the architect.
Back in France, Zao prepares this work with a passion comparable to Monet opening with the Grandes Décorations the ultimate phase of his career. The result is a triptych of oils on canvas, 2.80 m x 10 m overall, which is installed in 1986 as planned and will remain there until 2005. Contrary to Zao's usual practice, the title is not a mere date but a period, Juin-Octobre 1985, thus confirming the prolonged attention given by the artist in its execution.
Juin-Octobre 1985 is the most monumental artwork in Zao's entire career. According to his inspiration in that decade, it evokes the mystical unicity between nature and the infinite. The incandescent center is seen beyond a dark curtain accented by strident blue.
It was sold for HK $ 510M from an expectation beyond HK $ 350M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018, lot 1004.
Zao Wou-Ki also made his own return to his sources. In the 1980s the originality of his abstract paintings inspired by East and West met with great success in the Far East.
Pei is creating in Singapore a complex named Raffles City based on a tower and two hotels, and incorporating a shopping center and a convention center. In 1985 the project is advanced enough to anticipate the interior design. Zao is traveling in the Far East. Pei makes him visit the Raffles site and commissions him a gigantic painting for adorning the grand lobby of the main building alongside abstractions by Ellsworth Kelly and Kenneth Noland in the minimalist taste of the architect.
Back in France, Zao prepares this work with a passion comparable to Monet opening with the Grandes Décorations the ultimate phase of his career. The result is a triptych of oils on canvas, 2.80 m x 10 m overall, which is installed in 1986 as planned and will remain there until 2005. Contrary to Zao's usual practice, the title is not a mere date but a period, Juin-Octobre 1985, thus confirming the prolonged attention given by the artist in its execution.
Juin-Octobre 1985 is the most monumental artwork in Zao's entire career. According to his inspiration in that decade, it evokes the mystical unicity between nature and the infinite. The incandescent center is seen beyond a dark curtain accented by strident blue.
It was sold for HK $ 510M from an expectation beyond HK $ 350M by Sotheby's on September 30, 2018, lot 1004.
