Contemporary Artworks Commentary of October Auction Season in Hong Kong
The October auction season in Hong Kong is counting down, many auction houses have line up their major lots. This auction season has gathered various of Western and Eastern contemporary artworks, include Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (649-2), the Western art with highest appraisal on Asian market in history. There are also many masterpieces by some internationally famous Western artists like Daivd Hockney, Adrian Ghenie, Francis Bacon, Marlene Dumas, George Condo and Banksy etc. Asian masterpieces by Yayoi Kusama, Zhang Xiaogang, Ju Ming and Li Chen etc. are also going to be showed this time.
Selected Western Contemporaty Artworks:
No.1
Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild (649-2) received highest appraisal on Asian market in history
Abstract Series is the most famous of Gerhard Richter, this work is one of them most classic among his early works and it's done by 1987. The strength and keen sensation of Gerhard Richter is floating in Abstraktes Bild (649-2), creating unique texture and structure of this attracting complex imagery of exquisite and mighty vision experience. His special "scraping method" of using planks to scrape the pigments on canvas that created a brand new expressive way of Abstracts.
No.2
Daivd Hockney's iconic pentagonal painting in auction debut
This hexagonal painting in auction named Still Life was created in 2017, that belongs to the hexagonal paintings series of 15 pieces. A riot of bright colors and dazzling perspective of spaces. With primitive colored mountains rise up from the ground, multiple bright color blocks connected with the yellowish green plain that created an indulging visual experience. This work was effected by the Picasso and Chinese scroll ink painting, to analogize landscapes with abstract language, and brings the depth of the landscape paintings from Song Dynasty. It's more like improvisation rather than formal creation, but compare with other large scaled landscapes of Daivd Hockney, the charm of this painting is even greater.
No.3
Lidless Eye of Adrian Ghenie, based on a self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh
This painting was created between 2016 and 2018, the image looks spine-chilling, but it contains enthusiasm and breathtaking beauty. This is based on a self-portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, but except Van Gogh, there are some other elements. Like the chiaroscuro from Renaissance, the psychological states of the characters from Francis Bacon's paintings, and the subtle skills of Gerhard Richter of the abstractive illusion spaces of both creation and demolition. With thick layers colorful pigments piled up, it looks like an autobiography that has been altered in multiple times.
No.4
First time at auction in Asia Study For A Portrait of Francis Bacon
Study For A Portrait was created by Francis Bacon in 1979, the image is highly compacted with fragments of turquoise blue background that increased the drama of painting and enlarged the face part. This work combines rich color, extraordinary techniques and texture that bringing life to the painting. This vigorous small sized masterpiece is an understanding of Francis Bacon's exploration towards Picasso, and exploration of his about small sized portraits.
No.5
The largest painting of Banksy Forgive Us Our Trespassing
Forgive Us Our Trespassing of Banksy was created in 2011 with 7 meters high, this is a magnificent piece that stood on the ground. It is the largest sized work ever known of this anonymous street artist. The cathedral was set as background of the painting that adds a touch of perplexed emotion of confession. In another hand the stained glass window of sacred church has been graffitied, this blasphemous action is reflecting the rebel altitude of Banksy against authority. The most special about this work is that it was created by collaborating with a group of students from Los Angeles. They painted this window of cathedral together, the characters that were created by different person are overlapping on each other, that reflected the core spirit street graffiti perfectly.
No.6
Purple And Yellow Abstraction of of George Condo in 2012
This painting was created in 2013 and was donated by George Condo to Whitney Museum in New York for charity auction. The luscious colors is like looking into a dazzling kaleidoscope. By breaking the imagery into fragments then reconstructed them as a brand new visual language. The densely packed figures on canvas blends into 'Psychological-cubism' of George Condo. The figures and charcoal lines piece together a visual illusion, with bright watery eyes, toothpaste smile and plumping breast squeezed together, weaved into a weird giant net of puzzles.
No.7
New styled painting The Baby (2) of Marlene Dumas in 2005
The Baby (2) is a powerful and dramatic painting with ethereal atmosphere and rich details that represents the most well-known style of Marlene Dumas, her most classic theme and spiritual depth. The portrait of baby has been cropped with a size larger than real life, he is protruding from the dark blue background vigorously. This work was created in 2005 that has a very different style than her other landmark works. This painting has deeper implication and intriguing quality with free brush strokes. It's not just an outstanding contemporary portrait, it is also about discussions of race, history and the basic principles living of human beings. The Baby (2) has been showed at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo at her exhibition "Marlene Dumas-Broken White" that gains the value of this work.
Selected Asian Contemporary Art:
No.1
Masterpiece A-Pumpkin-(Cha) of Yayoi Kusama's late period
A-Pumpkin-(Cha) was created in 2011, it is dashing and dazzling with complicated and rigorous structured image. This is a superlative paradigm of all her "pumpkin" paintings, it contains the essence and extraordinary skills that Yayoi Kusama has learned in almost 90 years of her life. The "infinite net" with grids pattern full of the background is her iconic motif, and it usually comes with images of pumpkin. These grids are weaving together in orders that exudes a compelling rhythm into the canvas. The whole image is perfect with complicated and dazzling patterns that represents her arresting fine skills. The bright color of the pumpkin is almost spiritual the shows her enthusiastic and creative power.
No.2
Absolute classic work The Dark Trilogy：Fear, Meditation, Sorrow of Zhang Xiaogang
The Dark Trilogy：Fear, Meditation, Sorrow has great history value, this is it's first time in auction as three panels since the beginning of 1990s. This is a unique and absolute classic piece of Zhang Xiaogang. In all his early works, there are only two triptych paintings, and this piece of great sorrow is one of them. There is a sense of anxiety brings sophistication that is total different from his earlier romantic works, and it also become the cornerstone of his classic series of Bloodline. Beside this, there are some taps that stick to the canvas with thick pigments to create a concave-convex texture, to extend the flat space of the image into the physical space outside of the painting. It blurs the boundary between real world and imaginary space.
No.3
Early classic work Mask Series No.11 of Zeng Fanzhi
Mask Series No.11 was created in 1994, the first year of Zeng Fanzhi's "Mask" series. The back ground is elegant brown which only shows in his early works. From this gentle brown and bare skin of the figure and his dog, there is shock of real flesh. The dedicated custom suit is a reflection of the controls from society. The body is bearing a primitive power of life that covered by suit is enduring the pain.
No.4
Banana A Transformation Work of Liu Wei
Liu Wei's Banana is a humorous but also magnificent piece of strong visual impact. In 1995, Liu Wei's obsession with erotic body has turned into setiments. He became interested in the decadent feeling of rotten instead of indulgence of sensual pleasure. Banana is a work represents the extraordinary controlling of Liu Wei towards media and technique, his pursuing of art and his interests on textures, expressions, colors and different forms. This precious "banana" work has been a private collection of Zhang Qiangsheng since it was created, and it has been showed at many famous exhibitions in Europe.
Selected Contemporary Sculptures:
No.1
Taichi Series: Cloud Hands, Stomp (Set Of Two Pieces) of Ju Ming
Taichi Series: Cloud Hands, Stomp is a classic work of Ju Ming about Taichi fights with gigantic size that is rare to see at auctions. The figures with 253 and 203 centimeters high that shows magnificent power. Combines both stillness and movements, rigid and soft, this is not just about contracting but also symbiosis of the dualism of Taichi philosophy.
No.2
Seize IVof Antony Gormley
Antony Gormley is famous by his Cubist style figure sculptures, Seize IV was completed in 2015, one of the most classic and long lasted "Cubism Stacks" styled works. This180 cm high works was consisted by 19 rectangular blocks connected together that broke the traditions of figurative sculptures. It presented the visual style of "pixilation" under affection of digital techniques. A quiet soul was buried in this figure of movement, that brings the warmth of emotion to cold and solid geometries.
No.3
Pure Land of Li Chen
Pure Land was created in 1998, a perfect visual representative of both light and heavy at the same time. This work was created with raw lacquer techniques that contains the aesthetic of traditional Eastern art and then reconstructed into a contemporary style.
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