JACQUES Durand-Ruel is acutely aware of the risk he is taking. The French art aficionado has made it his latest objective to place the priceless work of French Impressionist painters alongside the delicate Chinese brush-strokes and fragile porcelain whichare showcased proudly in the homes of wealthy Hong Kong Chinese.
He is hoping that a week-long exhibition beginning on Friday will do just that.
About 30 works of art valued at more than US$430 million will be on show at the Mandarin Hotel in what is being billed as the biggest private European art sale Hong Kong has ever seen.
Timed to precede the massive Art Asia show, Mr Durand-Ruel said he would be the first art dealer to hold a private Hong Kong exhibition - entry will be strictly by invitation - which will feature works from Masters such as Claude Monet, Gauguin, Renoir and Cezanne.
The exhibition-cum-sale is being hosted by Mr Durand-Ruel on behalf of Wildenstein and Company, considered the world specialist in 17th-century to 19th-century paintings with galleries in New York, London and Tokyo. If the sale goes well, Hong Kong will be next on its list of gallery openings.
Brothers Alex and Guy Wildenstein are the fourth-generation heirs of the gallery and are among the wealthiest men in Europe. Mr Durand-Ruel, a former engineer who comes from a long line of collectors, was vice-president of the New York gallery and now works as a consultant.