Auction introduction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong is delighted to present over 200 modern Chinese paintings in the upcoming Fall auction. Headlining the sale is Zhang Daqian’s Mist at Dawn from the M K Lau Collection, a masterpiece emblematic of the artist zenith of splashed-colour achievement in the 1960s. Appearing in the market for the first time, the celebrated Trautmann Collection of Chinese paintings is a testament to taste and an embodiment of era-defining Sino-German cultural exchanges by Dr Oskar Paul Trautmann, former German ambassador to China from 1931 to 1938 known by his “Trautmann Mediation” before the Second Sino-Japanese War. Acquired directly from artists including Xu Beihong and Qi Baishi, the groupings were extensively exhibited across Germany in the 1930s. Sotheby’s is also honored to present works from prestigious collections, including the M K Lau Collection, the collection of Jao Tsung I Foundation, and the Feng Kanghou family collection. These paintings are joined by an assemblage of exquisite works, including a stunning abstract cypress painting by Wu Guanzhong and a remarkable landscape album drawn meticulously by Pu Ru, showcasing the myriad development of ink paintings over the course of the Twentieth Century.