Sotheby's Hong Kong - Spring Sales 2008 Sotheby’s Hong Kong is proud to announce that its Spring Sales 2008 will be held at the Grand Hall of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre from 8th to 11th April 2008.
News-Antique.com - Feb 07,2008 - SOTHEBY’S HONG KONG SPRING SALES 2008
TO OFFER OVER 1,400 LOTS
ESTIMATED IN EXCESS OF HK$1.3 BILLION
Preview: 5th- 7th April, 2008
Auctions: 8th – 11th April, 2008
[Hong Kong, Feb 2008] Sotheby’s Hong Kong is proud to announce that its Spring Sales 2008
will be held at the Grand Hall of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre from 8th
to 11th April 2008. In addition to the long-established sales of Chinese classical, modern and
contemporary paintings, Chinese works of art, jewellery as well as watches, Sotheby’s will, for the
first time, hold the Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Paintings sale in Hong Kong.
Over 1,400 lots with an estimated value in excess of HK$1.3 billion* will be showcased
during travelling exhibitions in Asia and New York in March, followed by a public exhibition
held in Hong Kong from 5th to 7th April 2008.
Mr. Kevin Ching, Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s Asia, said, “Following on from
Sotheby’s Hong Kong’s remarkable record-breaking performance in 2007, we shall be offering in
the forthcoming April Spring sales a strong and exceptional line-up of objects which are
extraordinary in terms of both their freshness to the market as well as their superb
craftsmanship.”
Mr. Ching continued, “In addition, for the first time, Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian
Paintings will also be sold in Hong Kong in April as a new category after its relocation from
Singapore. This is consistent with our worldwide strategy of ‘sourcing globally and selling
centrally’, thereby ensuring even greater international exposure and success for Southeast Asian
Paintings.”
CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART SALE
Following the successful achievement of the new sale record in autumn 2007 in Hong Kong, the
forthcoming Sale of Contemporary Chinese Art will again bring to the market important works
by many of the renowned Chinese contemporary artists in the field. The total pre-sale estimate
for the series over 270 total lots stands at HK$250 million.
The sale is highlighted by the exceptional Battlefield Realism: The Eighteen Arhats by Liu
Xiaodong (b. 1963) (estimate upon request), one of the most prominent neo-realist Chinese
contemporary artists. This large-scale work consists of nine pairs of 200 by 100 cm paintings
each juxtaposing which pair a Taiwanese soldier with a soldier from mainland China. This
monumental group of paintings represents the artist’s profound response to a sensitive issue:
China’s relations across the Taiwan Strait. Within Liu’s entire oeuvre, this is the only work
that directly addresses political issues.
Battlefield Realism: The Eighteen Arhats is bold statement by the artist, standing in contrast to his
usual non-judgmental and even impersonal approach. It’s a powerful indictment of the present
nationalistic controversy raging across the Taiwan Strait. “In art, it is easier to put them (the
soldiers from Taiwan and Mainland China) together, to have them collaborate. I was also trying
to show that they are not so different, they are like brothers.” he says.
The piece was executed in 2004 for the “Bunker Museum of Contemporary Art – 18 Solo
Exhibitions” curated by
