NEW YORK, NY.- Christie’s announces Asian Art Week, a series of auctions, viewings, and events, from March 4-19. This season presents seven auctions featuring over 750 objects from 5,000 years of art spanning all epochs and categories of Asian art from Chinese archaic bronzes through Japanese and Korean art to modern and contemporary Indian painting.
Highlights include Shang: Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes from the Daniel Shapiro Collection led by The Luboshez Gong, an exceptional and highly important bronze ritual wine vessel and cover from the late Shang dynasty, 13th-12th century BC ($4,000,000-6,000,000). Also featured in the week of sales are important Gandharan sculptures from a private Japanese collection, including a magnificent 3rd to 4th-century gray schist figure of Buddha Shakyamuni ($1,500,000-2,500,000); a significant painting by the pioneer of Indian modernism Tyeb Mehta, titled Confidant and painted in 1962 ($600,000-800,000); an important and highly exhibited work by Katsushika Hokusai titled Mitate Asazuma bune (The Parody of Boat Asazuma) from the collection of the Japan Ukiyo-e Museum ($400,000-500,000); an exceptionally rare huanghuali incense stand from the Yunwai Lou collection ($800,000-1,200,000) and Chinese works of art from the celebrated Junkunc collection. From rare huanghuali furniture to a collection of works by respected artist and teacher Benodebehari Mukherjee, treasures from every category of Asian art wait to be discovered.
Following the success of the September 2020 season, Chinese works of art sales on March 18-19 will be presented in New York and simultaneously in Hong Kong for increased phone bidding and streamed live on WeChat. Christie’s continues to leverage digital tools to extend access to key bidding areas and provide global audiences with opportunities to view auctions.
All works will be presented in an exhibition by appointment from March 12-18 at Christie’s New York.
ASIAN ART WEEK | LIVE AUCTION OVERVIEW:
Japanese and Korean Art
16 March 2021 | 10am
Christie’s sale of Japanese Art and Korean Art spans 259 lots of classical to modern and contemporary works. Among its diverse selections are prints and paintings by ukiyo-e masters such as Kitagawa Utamaro and Utagawa Hiroshige, including an important Katsushika Hokusai painting and prints; rare Heian Period Kannon sculpture; modern and contemporary art by Shinoda Toko, Inoue Yuichi and Kato Gizan; selections of lacquer works, metalworks, screens and important Korean Works of Art.
South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art
Including Works by Benodebehari Mukherjee from the Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation
17 March 2021 | 11am
Part I of this auction is led by important early works by Tyeb Mehta (Confidant, 1962) and Francis Newton Souza (Family, 1946). Also included are exceptional examples by modern masters Maqbool Fida Husain, Sayed Haider Raza and Narayan Shridhar Bendre. Also featured is a fine group of paintings by Krishen Khanna from the collection of Arthur and Lilly Banwell, acquired directly from the artist over the course of a long family friendship and held privately for over half a century. A diverse contemporary section includes impressive prints and a sculpture by Zarina, and significant works by the region’s most renowned practitioners like Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Ranjani Shettar, Jitish Kallat and Subodh Gupta, to name a few.
Part II includes a significant collection of works by Benodebehari Mukherjee (1904-1980) from the Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation. Ethereal landscapes by this pioneer of modern Indian art are complemented by a group of figurative works and nature studies representing every phase of his career. Particularly important are collages, sketches and prints from the final stage of his life, executed after the artist’s complete loss of eyesight. Christie’s is honored to present this notable selection of works by one of the most respected artists and teachers in India from the collection of his daughter Mrinalini Mukherjee’s foundation.
Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art
17 March 2021 | 8:30am
Christie’s sale of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Works of Art will present 58 carefully chosen lots featuring works from across India, the Himalayas, and Southeast Asia. The sale is led by the remaining selection of Gandharan sculptures from an important private Japanese collection, the first half of which was offered in the September 2020 record-breaking sale, Devotion in Stone. From this collection comes the sale’s top lot, a magnificent and monumental gray schist figure of Buddha Shakyamuni ($1,500,000-2,500,000). Other highlights include a rare Chola-period bronze figure of the Shaivite saint Sambandar with early and esteemed provenance ($700,000-900,000); a well-published folio from the dispersed ‘Lambagraon’ Gita Govinda series attributed to the Kangra court artist Purkhu ($150,000-200,000); a 14th-15th century gilt-bronze figure of a Tibetan Lama ($150,000-200,000); and a fine and rare painting of the Buddhist patron, Hvashang ($200,000-300,000).
Shang: Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes from the Daniel Shapiro Collection
18 March 2020 | 8:30am
Shang: Early Chinese Ritual Bronzes from the Daniel Shapiro Collection, features exceptional examples from China's formative Shang bronze culture from a renowned American collection formed over a span of twenty-five years. These sophisticated pieces provide a glimpse into the spiritual world and mysterious rituals of China's ancient culture and are among the world's most extraordinary works of art. Leading the sale is The Luboshez Gong ($4,000,000-6,000,000), a magnificent and highly important bronze ritual wine vessel. Dating to the 13th-12th century BC, the vessel combines a pouncing tiger with a standing owl to form a powerful, fantastic creature. Acquired by Captain S.N. Ferris Luboshez prior to 1949, few similar examples are known, one of which is in the Harvard Art Museums. Also of special interest is a rare ritual wine vessel with cover, fangyi, formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rafi Mottahedeh. The fangyi, a distinctive rectangular shape with elegantly tapered sides and a delicately rounded lid, is boldly decorated with striking taotie masks, flanked by a pair of long-tailed birds and confronting dragons divided by subtle flanges.
Important Chinese Art from the Junkunc Collection
18 March 2021 | 9am
Christie’s New York is honored to present Important Chinese Art from the Junkunc Collection. Highlights include important jade carvings such as a very rare pale beigish-white and yellowish-brown camel dated to the Tang-Yuan dynasty ($300,000-500,000), a rare miniature yellow jade faceted jar and cover dated to the Qianlong period or earlier ($100,000-150,000), and a finely carved white jade figure of a mythical beast from the 17th-18th century ($100,000-150,000). The sale also showcases other Chinese works of art including a rare gilt-silver sheath dated to the Liao-Yuan dynasty ($150,000-250,000), 14th-early 18th century archaistic silver and gold-inlaid bronze jar, once in the Qianlong Emperor’s collection ($200,000-300,000), and other early Chinese bronzes, Buddhist figures, lacquers, and scholar’s objects.
Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art
18 March 2021 | 1pm
19 March 2021 | 8:30am
Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art features works from distinguished private collections, including a rare 17th century huanghuali incense stand from the Yunwai Lou collection ($800,000-1,200,000); Chinese furniture from the collection of Frank E. and Lillian Whitacre; a Kangxi copper-red-decorated `dragon’ vase from an American private collection ($450,000-650,000); a group of Ming and Qing porcelain from a private New York collection; a very rare Yongzheng pale celadon-glazed ‘chrysanthemum’ vase from another private New York collection ($200,000-300,000) as well as rare Buddhist sculptures, ceramics, and other works of art.
South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art Online
4-18 March 2021 | Online
Christie’s online auction of South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art, taking place from 4-18 March, complements our live auction of works from this category, to be held in New York on 17 March. Together, these two sales celebrate a wide variety of artistic practices from the South Asian subcontinent and its diaspora across the 20th and 21st centuries. The online sale includes excellent modern works on paper by artists Maqbool Fida Husain, Francis Newton Souza, Manjit Bawa, Prabhakar Barwe and Jogen Chowdhury, alongside those by their mentors and pioneers of regional schools like Abdul Rahman Chughtai, Walter Langhammer, Nek Chand, Kamrul Hasan and Chittaprosad Bhattacharya. Rounding out the catalogue is a section of exceptional works by modern Pakistani artists and contemporary works by artists including Surendran Nair, Nilima Sheikh, Arpana Caur and Paresh Maity.
