LONDON.- The Michael Goedhuis: Brush and Bronze sale will take place at Bonhams New Bond Street on Thursday 18 May 2023. It offers a selection of Chinese ink paintings by more than 20 key artists of the last four decades (Brush) and bronze sculptures and vessels produced from the Song dynasty (960-1279) to the Qing (1644-1911) (Bronze). The sale is led by a magnificent work by the internationally renowned ink painter Liu Dan (b.1953), Old Cypress from the Forbidden City, 2007, with an estimate of £200,000-300,000.

It was in 1975 that Michael Goedhuis left a successful career in investment banking to pursue his interest in art. Dealing initially in Persian, Mughal and Islamic art he later expanded his activities to cover India, Japan and China. Since the early 1990s he has concentrated on Chinese Modern and Contemporary art and has played a key role in throwing light on the relevance of Chinese Ink art to modern aesthetics. Interviewed by art critic Susan Moore in the latest edition of Bonhams Magazine (Spring 2023), Michael said: “It is the ink painters who are truly revolutionary and culturally subversive. They are the most idealistic and intellectually daring of all contemporary Chinese artists.”

Other highlights among the Brush section of the sale include:

• Old Cypress from the Forbidden City, 2007 by Liu Dan (b.1953). Despite his highly privileged training with noted ink painter Ya Ming, Liu Dan's work departs from the dramatic expressive qualities of the brush and brushstrokes that were central to his education. While living in the West from 1981 - 2006 he concluded that most twentieth-century Chinese art had been produced in response to external pressures. His aspiration to be an agent of self-directed creativity rather than reactive production inspired him to focus on structure in line with his personal philosophy of nature's generative force. Liu Dan's paintings of trees are rare, and most of his work usually depicts rocks or flowers. Estimate: £200,000-300,000.

• Landscape, 2010-2011 by Li Huayi (b. 1948). Known for his meticulously detailed landscape paintings reminiscent of masterworks from the Song dynasty (960–1279), Li Huayi trained in the technical skills of both European and traditional Chinese painting. His careful study of the classics of Chinese and European art, as well as the modern American practice of abstraction, yielded paintings that are at once firmly rooted in the history of Chinese art and instantaneously meaningful to contemporary viewers. Estimate: £100,000-200,000.

• Zen Lotus, 1972 by Lui Shou-Kwan (1919-1975). Executed in 1972, Zen Lotus sits at the pinnacle of Lui Shou Kwan's most revered period, the last decade of his life when a deep fascination with Buddhism profoundly transformed his artistic output. In his iconic Zen paintings, the artist established a powerful visual idiom to represent the lotus, a symbol for eternity, purity, and Buddhahood. Estimate: £30,000-50,000.

The leading bronze sculpture in the sale is a rare and important silver-inlaid bronze figure of Guanyin. Its rarity lies not only in its exquisite casting with meticulous attention to detail, but also its large size and He Chaozong mark highlighting the link between Blanc-de-Chine wares and bronzes (He Chaozong was a celebrated early 17th century potter who specialised in Blanc-de-chine wares). Guanyin was a compassionate saviour who heard the woes of humankind, regardless of age, gender, or social class and became a popular intercessor for humanity to understand divine salvation. In times of increasing political instability and social flux such as the late Ming period and early Qing era, Guanyin would have been a source of comfort for many on the margins of society. Estimate: £100,000-200,000.

Most of the bronze artefacts in the sale date from the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties and were admired not only for their intrinsic beauty but also for their poetic and intellectual associations with ritual bronze vessels made several thousand years earlier. Michael Goedhuis said: “It is a totally fascinating but long-neglected field. It is only recently that the great historic collections in the West have begun to research and publish their holdings. Museum interest is growing in these later bronzes, but they remain really good value.”

Other bronze highlights include:

An extremely rare bronze suspended 'immortal and raft' incense vessel from the 14th/15th century. Although it is an incense burner or perfumer, the shape may possibly have been inspired by Central Asian and Persian kashkul, or so called 'beggar's bowls'. Estimate: £15,000-20,000.

A rare documentary bronze seated figure of Guanyin, Ming Dynasty, late 15th/early 16th century Remarkable and rare not only for its fine casting and unusual features such as the slightly tilted head, but also for the seventeen-character inscription on the base with the name of the maker Yang Sheng. The inscription may be translated as: 'Yang Sheng of Bixi made this for the believer Jiang Rong whilst burning incense and worshipping at the Plum Blossom and Snow Kiln.' Estimate: £15,000-20,000.

A bronze sheep-form incense burner and cover, Ming Dynasty. The character for sheep or goat, yang (羊), appeared as early as the Han dynasty as a pun for the character xiang (祥) meaning auspicious or lucky. By the Ming period, the image of sheep had become heavily associated with yang (陽), another homophone but signifying the sun or warm, positive, masculine force in Chinese cosmology. Estimate: £9,000-12,000 (to be sold without reserve).

Edward Luper, Bonhams specialist is Chinese Works of Art and the curator of the sale, said: “Michael Goedhuis is a legendary figure in the word of Chinese art. Bonhams is privileged to have been chosen to present this peerless selection of works from two of his greatest areas of expertise.”