Bonhams & Butterfields’ Fine Asian Art Brings More than $3-Million

Thursday, 11 January 2007 17:28

San Francisco, CA - Rare prints and paintings by the renowned Japanese print artist Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) from the family’s private collection brought record prices in a November 20, 2006 two-session Asian art auction held by Bonhams & Butterfields in San Francisco.  A collection of 61 lots illustrating the breadth of the artist’s talent went 100% sold, with international bidders vying via telephone and in the room.  Star lots included Asahi, and oversize print dated Taisho 15 (1926), which sold for $23,900, and Kumoi sakura from the same year, which brought $35,850.  Twelve watercolors by Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) capped the Shin Hanga works offered, bringing $50,788, more than double its low estimate.

Bidding for Japanese works reached a fever pitch for a rare and important bronze figure of Amitabha Buddha.  The massive sculpture, measuring 67-inches and dated by inscription to 1680, sold over the telephone for a staggering $172,250, over four times its low estimate.  Ceramics, cloisonné, swords and sword fittings brought solid prices.  The momentum continued into the rest of the morning session, as Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian works of art were offered.  A Tibetan standing figure of a Tara, 16^th/17^th century, from the collection of Parisian Edgar Gutman by descent to the current owner, churned a heated contest between two telephone bidders, ultimately bringing $65,500.

The afternoon session opened with 26 lots of Contemporary Asian Art.  This section of the sale featured works from China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, bringing more than $1-million.  Included were paintings by important Chinese cynical realists Yue Minjun, Zeng Fanzhi, and Zhang Xiaogang, and the Taiwanese living national treasure Ju Ming.  Conservative estimates for works by these important artists inspired interest on the telephones and in the salesroom with eager buyers from China, Taiwan, Europe and America.

Yue Minjun’s Great Solidarity, painted in 1992, brought more than twice its low estimate, selling to a Chinese buyer in the room for $309,750. Zeng Fanzhi’s Mask series No. 14 sold to the same buyer for $183, 250, again, doubling its high estimate.  Two works by the renowned artist Zhang Xiaogang: Baby No. 19 from the Bloodline Series, and Amnesia and Memory, dated 2005, sold within estimate at $172,250 and $205,250 (respectively).  Paintings by new artists Yang Din, Yang Maoyuan and the Hong Kong based artists Nancy Chu Woo and Hon Chifun sold to telephone bidders as did traditional style oil paintings by Chen Jinyu and Zhang Jingsheng.  A large and compelling photograph of Pukou, from the Assembly Hall Series by the husband and wife team Shao Yinong and Muchen, sold within the estimate to an American buyer for $21,510.

Ju Ming’s monumental sculpture entitled Buffalo dragging the wood, executed in 1990, brought $133,750, sold to an international bidder while Sans titre (totem) by the Beijing born artist Wang Keping, sold in the room for $19,120.

The afternoon session continued with Chinese classical and modern ink paintings.  Again, noted artists and rarity ruled the day.  Twelve album leaves from the Imperial Household regulations, 8th century, brought over five times its estimate, selling to a telephone bidder for $62,625.  Works by Qi Baishi, Wu Guanzhong, Zhang Daqian sold well, with bids for a Qi Baishi work Chicken and Coxcomb flowers pecking its way to $53,775.

Rarity and condition were the determining factors in the strong prices achieved for additional Chinese lots.  A fine Canton enameled bronze hand warmer, Qianlong mark and period, brought three times its estimate, selling for $35,850 over the telephone.  A carved and polychrome ivory figure of a Western beauty, based on a prototype attributed to the Jesuit artist Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), brought $53,775.  Chinese cloisonné and later bronzes brought strong prices, with a fine ‘sunspot’ bronze censer and stand, 18^th century, selling for $41,825 and a pair of cloisonné enameled hu-form vases, 18^th/19^th century, selling for $32, 863.

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques.  The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America, and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies.  Today, Bonhams is the third largest and fastest growing auction house in the world with a global network of offices and regional representatives providing sales advice and valuation services in 25 countries.  It offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge; and a further 10 throughout the UK.  Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and in Switzerland, Monaco, and Australia.  For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of more than 50 Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com/us