BEIJING.- Sotheby’s Beijing Spring Sale 2015 concluded today, with the Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art Auction totalling RMB 40.48 million / HK$50.6 million / US$6.49 million*. Wen Guihua, President of Sotheby’s Beijing Auction Co. Ltd., said: “The results of the sale today were rational and solid. Important early works by modern and contemporary artists, such as Liu Xiaodong and Wang Xingwei, remained sought after by collectors and achieved pleasing results. Abstract art has become an important force of the market and in today’s sale we saw strong demand for high-quality abstract works. Top lot of the sale, Zao Wou-Ki’s 15.2.93, achieved RMB 10.86 million and Walasse Ting’s Untitled fetched three times the high estimate with intense bidding. Works by young and emerging artists performed strongly in the sale with Yuan Yuan and Wang Guangle’s paintings selling above high estimates, proving that young artists with great potential are still the focus of the market.”
Ms. Wen continued: “The top ten selling lots in the Contemporary Ink section points to a diverse and growing interest in ink art among private Asian buyers. Figurative works by established artist Xu Lei and Peng Wei sold above high estimates, as did abstract and highly conceptual works by Liu Guosong and Jiang Ji’an. In addition, the traditional scroll paintings by Qiu Ting, Xue Liang and Lin Haizhong debuting in Sothebys Beijing auctions also achieved great results.”
Top Lot of the Sale
By the 1990s, Zao Wou-Ki had acquired a high degree of excellence in terms of skill and technique and had received international recognition for his abstract paintings. In his seventies, he worked in any way he wished, boldly applying lively and unrestrained strokes to large canvases which produced an expressive, rich display of light and colour. 15.2.93 is a work for which Zao drew upon his depth of experience to create something innovative that surpassed all prior works. In this painting, the artist limited his palette to only five colours: purple, yellow, blue, pink and a dark, inky indigo-black. Mingling organically on the canvas, the hues reveal a vast luminescence.
