HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong is gearing up to stage its first modern and contemporary art auctions in its recently opened premises at Landmark Chater on November 11 & 12.

Taking centre stage at Sotheby’s Maison are era-defining artworks from the East and West, including Mark Rothko’s strikingly vibrant, two-metre-tall canvas, Untitled (Yellow and Blue), which was painted during the pinnacle of his career. Carrying an estimate of HK$225-275m / US$28.9-35m, this is one of the most valuable Western contemporary artworks ever to be offered in Asia, and its appearance marks the first time a work by Rothko has been offered in the region. Complementing the Rothko is a rare large-scale work by Zao Wou-Ki, 02.01.65, from his celebrated Hurricane period, which demonstrates the profound influence of American Abstract Expressionism on the artist’s practice.

Responding to the strong performance of works by titans of Japanese art, this season’s sales feature an iconic Hat painting by Yayoi Kusama alongside artworks by Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami, Kohei Nawa, and Izumi Kato.

Almost 50% of this season’s evening sale offerings have never been offered on the market before, while two thirds of the works will go on public exhibition for the first time. Maria Kreyn, Eva Helene Pade and William Brickel will also make their auction debuts.

“This season’s modern and contemporary offerings see Asian artists beloved by the collector community here in Hong Kong rub shoulders with Western artists who haven’t – until now – appeared at auction in the region. All, though, united by their capacity to captivate and inspire. It goes without saying that Asia remains a key hub for these sales, and we look forward to unveiling these remarkable works in our new flagship, Sotheby’s Maison, at Landmark Chater.” --Elaine Holt, Chairman of Modern & Contemporary Art & Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia

A Closer Look at the Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction Highlights

Property from a Distinguished Collection
Mark Rothko, Untitled (Yellow and Blue), 1954
Estimate: HK$225-275m / US$28.9-35.3m

*Artist’s Asia Debut*

Over two meters in height, Untitled (Yellow and Blue) was executed in 1954, the year the artist created a number of his most celebrated canvases. The work engulfs the viewer in the vastness of its yellow and blue planes.

The year 1954 was an important moment for Rothko’s career and has been described by David Anfam, author of the artist’s catalogue raisonné, as the ‘anni mirabilis.’ Of the twenty paintings executed that year, several are today held in the permanent collections of prominent museums around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art; The Phillips Collection, and The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design.

Zao Wou-Ki, 02.01.65, 1965
Estimate: HK$80-120m / US$10.3-15.5m

In the late 1950s, Zao Wou-Ki embarked on a two- year journey around the world, during which he travelled to New York. Surrounded by established artists, rising stars, gallerists and collectors, he sought to cultivate new relationships and seek inspiration from his surroundings.

Zao Wou-Ki’s encounter with Samuel Kootz, founder of Kootz Gallery, who was representing leading figures of Abstract Expressionism, including Mark Rothko, deeply influenced him. The experience fuelled Zao Wou-Ki’s passion for creating monumental works aligned with the practice of the New York School, and gave rise to the large scale masterpieces, which would come to represent his celebrated Hurricane Period.

Over a seven-year period (1959-1965), Zao Wou-Ki created just 15 oil paintings in this size (162 x 200cm), the majority of which now reside in major institutional and museum collections globally. The Centre Pompidou, for instance, holds three of these exquisite masterworks. The appearance of 02.01.65 in this season’s auction marks a rare opportunity to acquire a large-scale work from this particular period given there are barely any left in private hands.

Property from the Collection of Dr Ryutaro
Takahashi Yayoi Kusama, Hat, 1980
Estimate: HK$38-55m / US$4.9-7.1m

The first, and largest, known work on canvas to feature Kusama’s iconic hat motif, this historically significant painting has not been seen in public for decades, having remained in the collection of Dr Ryutaro Takahashi – renowned patron of the arts and long-standing supporter of Kusama – for over 25 years.

In her depiction of a hat, Kusama returns to the humble kasa (a Japanese straw hat worn by farmers while working in the fields) from her childhood memory and adorns it with a simple ribbon. Rendered in exquisite detail, she deploys the mesmerising patterns of her signature infinity nets.

Hat was created in 1980 during one of Kusama’s most pivotal eras. After an explosive rise to global superstardom in New York in the 1960s – which saw her wear similar hats emblazoned with her own extravagant designs and bold patterns – Kusama moved back to Tokyo in 1973 and underwent a creative renaissance while re assimilating into Japanese society. She then retreated into a psychiatric hospital in 1977, commencing a diligent studio practice where she experimented with medium, colour and composition, which marked a departure from her earlier largely monochromatic works.

A second work by Kusama, Nets – Infinity, will also be offered in the evening auction with an estimate of HK$11- 14m / US$1.4-1.8m.

After Hat was created, Kusama would revisit the hat motif in the 1980s in numerous prints, drawings and paintings, but always in a much smaller domestic scale.

George Condo, Red, White and Black, 2014
Estimate: HK$25-35m / US$3.2-4.5m

“I describe what I do as psychological cubism. Picasso painted a violin from four different perspectives at one moment. I do the same with psychological states. Four of them can occur simultaneously. Like glimpsing a bus with one passenger howling over a joke they're hearing down the phone, someone else asleep, someone else crying – I'll put them all in one face" —George Condo

Bringing together elements of beauty and the macabre with expressionistic brushwork in a kaleidoscopic sweep of colours, Red, White and Black is an intoxicating example of Condo’s unique ability to merge figuration and portraiture with abstraction.