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.
be one of the most
representative splashed ink and colour on
paper paintings in Zhang’s later artistic career,
the present lot depicts Hengguan Mountain Road, an impressive piece of infrastructure built in
Taiwan in the 1950s, and one of Zhang’s favourite subject matters. This large-scale painting was
executed in 1964-65 when Zhang’s splashed coloured ink technique was so well developed that
he was able to produce works of 4 or 6 feet.
Zhang first visited the Hengguan Mountain Road at its 1959 opening, and henceforth he was a
frequent visitor to the scenic spot. The magnificent panorama at Hengguan, portrayed in the
present lot, is a testament to nature, while the pseudo-abstract rendering of small huts, old woods
and a scholar is reminiscent of the Chinese scholarly tradition. Zhang’s painting style of this
period is further demonstrated by his powerful and unconstrained brushstrokes and less use of
the traditional stroke texture technique.
Another exquisite painting by Zhang Daqian is Recluse in the Spring
Mountain (est. HK$2.5-3 million). Zhang is known for his enthusiastic
reproductions of ancient masterpieces, enabling him to incorporate
techniques from these great works. The present lot is a reproduction of a
masterpiece of the same name by Wang Meng, a master of ink painting of
Yuan dynasty, and is considered to be the best reproduction Zhang ever
accomplished. Executed in 1947, this Recluse in the Spring Mountain is the third
reproduction of the painting by Zhang who had, since 1937, been
meticulously emulating Wang’s innovative and detailed brushstrokes. By his
third attempt, Zhang thoroughly understood Wang’s painting and fully
grasped the great master’s techniques. By not strictly following the composition of the original
painting, Zhang inserted more human figures in this third version, imbuing the figures with new
identities and importance and adding richness to the simple and elegant ambience. Lines are
intersected in a controlled manner, and the carefully rendered landscape, huts, figures, trees and
other features help develop a spiritual ambiance.
Another intriguing painting on offer is Fu Baoshi’s Portrait of Tian Lou (est. HK$400,000-
$600,000). In 1947, Fu painted a portrait of a friend from France called Tian Youren
(transliterated from his French surname; alias Tian Lou). Unlike most of
his portraits of fictional characters and imaginary historical figures, it was
rare of Fu to paint a portrait of a real life person. In this work Tian Lou
is clearly a foreigner, this is evident from his features, but his attire is that
of a traditional Chinese hanfu. He appears as an intellectual, deep in
thought under a pine tree. The unconventional conjunction of east and
west is not evident in any of Fu’s other work. The crossover is also
demonstrated in Fu’s scrupulous choice of a Chinese name for Tian Lou
which sounded close to his name, and was also a title traditionally used
only by intellectuals. The great master saw Tian not only as a
connoisseur, but as a person he truly respected.
11
Li Keran’s Waterfalls (est. 3-5 million) was executed
