The late Zao Wou-Ki’s ‘01.03.99’ oil-on-canvas painting, which has an estimated value of up to US$5.1 million.
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STYLE Edit: Chinese masterpiece valued at up to US$5.1 million to be auctioned in Hong Kong
Zao Wou-Ki’s oil painting, ‘01.03.99’ – part of the Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art sale – will feature at China Guardian Hong Kong Spring Auctions on March 30 and 31
Part of Chinese-French painter Zao Wou-Ki’s oil painting, ‘01.03.99’, which has an estimated value of up to US$5.1 million, will be offered for sale during the China Guardian Auctions’ Spring Auctions, at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, over the weekend of March 30 and 31.
If you’ve ever wanted to see a multimillion-dollar artwork up close, here’s your chance.
China Guardian Auctions will be hosting its Spring Auctions on March 30 and 31 at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong.
The event will feature the much-anticipated Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art sale, which includes never-before-auctioned pieces by notable Chinese artists.
Under the theme “Abstractionism – The Resonance of Souls”, a masterpiece by the late Chinese-French painter Zao Wou-Ki will be presented at auction for the first time ever.
The oil-on-canvas artwork, 01.03.99, measuring 1.6 metres (64 inches) by 1.3 metres, has an estimated value of HK$30 million to HK$40 million. (US$3.8 million to US$5.1 million)
The Beijing-born artist moved to Paris in 1948 and was influenced by Western modernism.
By 1959, Zao was no longer naming his work – in an effort to avoid providing any visual connotations – which is why they are titled with the date of completion instead; the painting 01.03.99 was completed in 1999.
He died in 2013, aged 92, but his artworks have been auctioned posthumously and attracted record prices. Sotheby’s reported last October that Zao’s Juin-Octobre 1985 was sold for HK$510 million – a world record at auction for an oil painting by an Asian artist.
In the sale, we also see Seated Nude, in ink and colour on paper, by female Chinese artist Pan Yuliang (1895-1977).
In childhood, Pan was sold to a brothel by her uncle after her parents died. She moved from Shanghai to Paris in 1937 and lived in France for 40 years.
Today, she is known for her Western modernist works of female nudes, which once sparked controversy in conservative China of the 1930s.
Seated Nude has an estimated value of HK$12 million to HK$25 million.
The Spring Auction will also include works by Chinese artists including Ting Yingyung, Chu Teh-Chun and Richard Lin.
The Spring Auctions exhibition will run from 10am to 9pm on March 28, and 10am to 6pm on March 29 at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong.
China Guardian’s weekend Spring Auctions will feature the sale of Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art at 3pm on March 30.