Auction introduction: The Modern Evening Auction (5 October, Hong Kong) will feature artworks that capture the multifaceted, creative spirit of artists working around the world during the 20th century, pioneers who broke past the boundaries of established norms to create a vision of modern and post-war art. Leading the sale will be Sanyu’s masterpiece Branches, a remarkable achievement amongst his entire body of flower works, an autobiographical expression coming from an artist having said to identify as ‘an Eastern potted plant in a garden in Paris’; full of hope for new spring, the early promise of Sanyu’s plum branches traces their origins to the artist’s cultural roots, set in a composition that suggests Western geometric abstraction. Alongside Sanyu’s Branches, we compare the depiction of nature and still life by modern masters, with highlights such as Les oliviers by Zao Wou-Ki, Pansies by Georgette Chen, and Bouquet de chrysanthèmes roses by Pan Yuliang – each representing the fulfillment of century-defining ideas, from Impressionism, Pointillism, and Cubism into Abstract Expressionism and beyond. This auction will be a wonderful opportunity for collectors to engage in creative encounters with the most significant names from the modern era.