Christie’s Hong Kong will hold its Spring sale of Fine Chinese Modern Paintings and Fine Chinese Classical Paintings and Calligraphy on May 28th at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, showcasing over 400 rare and exceptional works from the masters, valued in excess of HK$350 million (US$45 million).
Xu Beihong is one of the pioneers of the Chinese modern art movement. His artistic innovations functioned as a catalyst between classical and modern; Chinese and Western. He specializes in drawing, oil paintings, and traditional ink and brush paintings. He blended the Western artistic techniques into his Chinese paintings, creating an innovative and unique style; meanwhile, his drawings and oil paintings are infiltrated by a touch of Chinese water-and-ink painting flavor. His broad subjects were all portrayed with much verisimilitude.
Xu Beihong is a master at portrayal of horses, which won him a universal reputation. Xu’s horses became a quintessential icon of the Chinese paintings. An expert in the horse’s anatomy, Xu’s work emphasized a horse’s physical structure in kinetic movements. His strong and steady strokes bring out not only the strength of the horse’s tendons and bones, which support not only its flesh but also its character. Three Galloping Horses (estimate: HK$2,000,000 -3,000,000/US$258,100-387,100) by Xu Beihong belongs to the Lufang Studio collection. These three horses are fine examples of modern Chinese paintings’ perfect utilization of the Western concept of anatomy and spatial.
The Study of One’s Universe through Artistic Lenses
Fine Modern Chinese Paintings
28 May 2010, 10:00am
The Modern portion offers a fine spectrum of works that dates from late 19th century and 20th century onwards. Artists included in this category are Zhang Daqian, Qi Baishi, Lin Feng Mian, Fu Baoshi and all those who made a significant contribution to the different schools of the Chinese modern art history. The sale offers a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire works created during this age of phenomenal change.
Steeped in philosophy, religion and literature, Chinese paintings are unique in fusing poetry, calligraphy and art throughout the ages. The Fine Chinese Classical Paintings & Calligraphy sale will feature important works by artists active before the late Qing Dynasty (19th Century), including Ming Dynasty painters and calligraphers such as Wen Zhengming, Dong Qichang, Lan Ying and Shen Zhou; important Qing artists such as Hua Yan and Yuan Yao. The Fine Chinese Modern Paintings sale will present a body of magnificent works by renowned 19th and 20th Century masters such as Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong, Fu Baoshi, Zhang Daqian,Lin Fengmian, Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng. Showcasing a wide range of works by artists of different styles and schools, this sale caters to the variety of palettes of today’s discerning collectors.
Image: Xu Beihong (1894-1953), Three Galloping Horses. Scroll, mounted and framed, Ink and colour on paper, 57 x 67 cm. (22 1/2 x 26 3/8 in.) Estimate: HK$2,000,000-3,000,000/US$257,000-385,600. Photo: Christie’s Images Ltd 2010
