We invite you to discover the Australia E-Newsletter.
You will find all the latest news on recent results, forthcoming sales,
as well as visits by leading specialists to Christie's Australia.
Asian Art Experts: Forthcoming visits
Christie’s Hong Kong: 20th anniversary / Spring sales
In Focus: Contemporary Chinese Art
Sale Results: 2006 / 2007
Christie’s Australia: The Team
Running Cheetah III Maquette
8.5/8in. (22cm.) high; 4.3/4in.
(12cm.) wide; 21.1/4in. (54cm.) long
Estimate: £4,000-6,000
On the 11 June 2007, Christie’s South Kensington will be hosting Predators and Prey: The Animal Bronzes of Dylan Lewis sale. On the 16 June Christie’s Sydney hosted an inspiring presentation evening to coincide with the forthcoming sale. This was a rare opportunity to meet this pioneering South African artist, famed for his awe-inspiring sculptures of Big Cats.
Whether you are looking for a table top bronze to grace your side table or for a Big Cat to prowl your garden, this is an occasion not to be missed. We look forward to seeing you at the viewing and the forthcoming sale and please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have.
Auction
Christie’s South Kensington
85 Old Brompton Road
London SW7 3LD
Viewing
Royal Geographical Society
1 Kensington Gore
London SW7 2AR
8 June 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
9 June 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
10 June 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
11 June 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
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Ruben Lien
In June we look forward to welcoming Ruben Lien, the Head of the London Chinese Art and Ceramics department to Australia.
Ruben has been instrumental in the successful sale of many important Chinese works of art in London especially two important Single-Owner
collections in 2004: the E.T Hall Collection of Ming and Qing Monochrome Porcelains and the Chinese Porcelains and Enamels from the Alfred Morrison Collection, Fonthill House.
Under his leadership in July 2005 the van Hermert Jar, a rare 14th Century Yuan blue and white porcelain jar, was sold for £15.688 million, making it the most expensive Asian art work ever sold at auction.
Ruben Lien's Visit to Australia
Sydney & Brisbane: 7, 8 & 9 June
Melbourne: 12 & 13 June
For further information regarding these visits
please contact:
Ronan Sulich (Sydney)
rsulich@christies.com
+61 2 9326 1422
Patricia Kontos (Melbourne)
pkontos@christies.com
+61 3 9820 4311
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Rosemary Scott
We are also delighted to announce the visit to Sydney on 11 June and Melbourne on 12 June by Rosemary Scott, the Senior Academic Consultant to the International Asian Art Departments at Christie's. Rosemary will give a lecture in Sydney at Christie's Edgecliff rooms and one in Melbourne at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Rosemary Scott’s distinguished career in Chinese Art and Archaeology spans over thirty years from the position of Assistant Keeper of Oriental Art at the Burrell collection in Glasgow, to Curator of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art SOAS University of London and now as Head of the Museums Department of SOAS.
She is also currently the President of the Oriental Ceramic Society in London. She has curated a wide range of exhibitions and has researched and written numerous books and articles on Chinese ceramics, textiles and early lacquer.
She has travelled extensively researching and lecturing in Asia, America, Australia and Europe.
Rosemary Scott's Visit to Australia
Sydney: 11 June
Melbourne 12 June
For further information regarding the lectures
please contact:
Ronan Sulich (Sydney)
rsulich@christies.com
+61 2 9326 1422
Patricia Kontos (Melbourne)
pkontos@christies.com
+61 3 9820 4311
20 Years at Christie’s Hong Kong
In 2006 Christie’s Hong Kong celebrated its 20 year anniversary. Starting out offering Chinese 19th and 20th Century Chinese paintings and jadeite jewellery in 1986, the range of offerings has expanded to cover sales in Chinese ceramics and Works of Art, Asian art, as well as Jewellery and Watches. It has also established itself as the leading auction house in the region. In 2006, top lots ranged from a magnificent early Ming underglaze copper-red vase, Yuhuchunping, which realized a staggering HK$10,207,600 in the Imperial Sale, to the painting Rouge, La pluie de petals sur le village; Blanc, Le nuage au-dessus de la maison No. 53 by Chu Teh-Chun (Zhu Dequn, born in 1920) in the 20th Century Chinese sale which sold for HK$25,880,000.
Spring sales
Christie’s Hong Kong Spring auction series will take place from 27 to 31 May 2007
at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition centre. The sale will feature a wide array
of exceptional Asian art, jewellery and watches.
27 May__Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art
27 May__20th Century Chinese Art
27 May__Asian Contemporary Art
28 May__Fine Classical Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy
28 May__Fine Modern Chinese Paintings
29 May__The Imperial Sale
29 May__Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
30 May__Magnificent Jewellery and Jadeite Jewellery
31 May__Important Watches
A pair of Dayazhai Yellow-ground Jardinières Guangxu Period (1875-1908)
11 7/16in. (29cm.) high
HK$80,000-120,000
US$10,000-15,000
rose ‘butterfly’ double-gourd vase. This masterpiece is embellished with a
unusual design of butterflies and flowers including the auspicious peony.
The detail and enamel decoration are exquisite.
A very rare famille rose ‘butterfly’ double-gourd vase
Qianlong six-character sealmark and of the period (1736-1795)
23cm. high
Expected to realise in excess of HK$10 million / US $ 1.3 million
These reflect the important role played by incense at the Chinese court.
It was used to perfume rooms, fabrics and to stimulate creativity in the scholar.
These incense burners also reveal the Chinese fondness for miniature
gardens and the trend for incorporating these into interiors.
A very rare pair of famille rose reticulated parfumiers
Qianlong sealmarks and of the period (1736-1795)
36.8cm. high
Estimate: HK$3 million / US$ 380,000-510,000
Bloodline Series: The Big Family
oil on canvas
19 5/8 x 23 5/8in. (50 x 60cm.)
Painted in 1997
Price realised: £288,000
In Focus: Contemporary Chinese Art
Although a relatively new market, Contemporary Chinese Art is continuing to be extremely successful at auction. The period from the 1990s to the present day is widely regarded as one of the most creative periods for Chinese Contemporary Art. The genre can de defined by its honest evaluations of modern China: wrought by the co-existence of capitalism and socialism.
Key up-and-coming and established artists include Sanyu, Lin Fengmian, Zao Wou-ki, Wu Guanzhong, Chu Teh-Chun and Cai Guo-Qiang and Wang Guangyi, all of which reflect the varied and dynamic approach of contemporary Chinese artists.
In the London Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sale in London on February 8 2007, The Bloodline Series: The Big Family by Zhang Xiaogang (b.1958) sold for £288,000 after being sourced in Sydney, Australia. The artist was influenced by the works of Dali, Picasso and Paolozzi but in particular by photographs. His famous Bloodline Series explores the contrasts of appearance and reality, creating his characteristic stark and haunting images.
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Designed as a graduated line of cushion-shaped and old-cut diamond clusters alternating with diamond-set scroll motifs, each surmounted by old-cut diamond terminals, to the collet-set diamond line, mounted in silver and gold, circa 1870, 19.2 cm. maximum diameter, in fitted blue leather case.
Price realised: £926,400
Christie’s week of Impressionist and Modern sales in February 2007 saw exceptional prices realized for artists such as Fernand Léger, whose Les maisions dans les arbres sold for £6,292,000 and explores the artist’s interest in the dynamic world of modernity. Two portraits by Amedeo Modigliani also far exceeded their pre-sale estimates, with La fille au bêret realizing £6,068,000 and Homme au chapeau achieving £3,940,000. Both paintings were influenced by the works of Cézanne, although whilst La fille au beret focuses on the purity and innocence of a young girl, the Homme au chapeau reveals the roguish non-conformist aspect of a young man, perhaps a reflection of the hedonistic young Modigliani.
The February 2007 Post-War and Contemporary sales led by Francis Bacon’s exceptional Study for Portrait II drew in buyers in their droves. One of Bacon’s most important works: it last appeared in public in an exhibition in 1963 and this was its first time at auction. After an exciting bidding battle, the Bacon portrait sold for £14,020,000, a world record for the artist and the second highest price for the artist at auction. On top of this, 11 auction records were broken for artists including Sigmar Polke, Antonio Saura, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Alberto Burri.
The Jewellery market has continued to gain strength from the participation of new buyers from China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, Russia and the Middle East. From the H.R.H. The Princess Margaret sale in June 2006 to the Ellen Barkin collection in October 2006, from diamonds to contemporary jewellery, top lots included a pair of topaz, ruby and diamond ear pendants, by JAR, from the collection of Ellen Barkin which realized $710,400 and the “Poltimore Tiara” made by Garrard from the collection of H.R.H. The Princess Margaret which reached $1,704,600.
Meanwhile the Old Master department reaffirmed its position as market leader in both Old Master Pictures and Drawings in 2006. The international quality of the department and the paintings sold in 2006 is verified by top lots ranging from Turner’s Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio sold in the New York April auction, to Jacques-Louis David’s Portrait de Jean-Pierre Delahaye sold in Paris in June, to the rediscovered Salmacis and Hermaphroditus by Ludovico Carracci sold at the London sale in July, to Ceruti’s Il Bravo; La Vecchia Contadina sold in Milan in November, and Rome: The Forum with the Temple of Castor and Pollux; and The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the Forum by Bernardo Bellotto which were sold in London in December.
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Christie’s Australia is an experienced team. Ronan Sulich heads up the Sydney office. With a vast knowledge in fine and decorative arts, he has been instrumental in sales at both a local and international level. Meanwhile Patricia Kontos leads Christie’s Melbourne. Her passion for art ranges from jewellery, clocks and watches to paintings. The Christie’s Australia team are on hand to offer expert advice, exceptional client service and the best opportunities for your works of art. For buyers in one of our global salerooms, we can organise condition reports, absentee bids and payments. Likewise, we can also arrange for you to sell exceptional works by Private Treaty here in Australia or place them on the international marketplace through our global network of salerooms.
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