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This massive antique gilt bronze figure of a seated Shakyamuni Buddha sold for US$30 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, setting a new world auction record for a piece of Chinese sculpture.  The Ming figure was bought by Mr. Zheng Huaxing of Zhongshan Qujuezhai, Guangdong. It will be returned to China.

There were multiple records at five sales in Hong Kong of fine Chinese Ceramics and works of art, of which the  Shakyamuni Buddha was the top lot. The five sales achieved a combined total of US$161.5 million.

Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s Asia Deputy Chairman and International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, said: “Our 40 year anniversary sale was an extraordinary success fuelled both by the quality and breadth of the various collections on offer, as well as the dramatic participation of clients from all around the globe.  With the early 15^th century gilt-bronze Buddha, we have set a record for any Asian work of art. While participation from our mainland clients was comparatively muted for the last couple of seasons, they have made an extraordinary comeback this season, with many of our top lots returning to China.”

Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) by Andy Warhol is estimated to achieve more than $60 million when it comes up at Sotheby’s in New York on November 13. The monumental painting is one of only four Car Crash works of this scale in Warhol’s pivotal Death and Disaster series. It measures over eight feet by 13 feet.  It is the only one of the series remaining in private hands. The work, which boasts distinguished provenance including Gunter Sachs, Charles Saatchi, and the legendary Swiss dealer Thomas Ammann, has been in the same collection since 1988. This version has been seen in public only once in the past 26 years. 

The Death and Disaster series stands as arguably Warhol’s most significant artistic achievement. The series explored many of the key themes that defined his entire artistic career – the potential of mass-media to transform anonymity to celebrity as well as a perceived indifference to death in the modern era – and is considered one of the most provocative, confrontational and brilliant projects undertaken by any artist in the 1960s. It is not coincidental that Warhol created the series at the same time as his iconic portraits of celebrities touched by death and disaster such as Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy who had found their private tragedy catapulted onto the public arena.

The other three monumental canvasses in the series belong to museums:  Orange Car Crash 14 Times in The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Black and White Disaster #4 in the Kunstmuseum, Basel; and Orange Car Crash in the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung, Ludwig, Vienna.  (Click on image to enlarge).

UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR $105.4 MILLION.

THERE  was a new record for a work by a living Chinese artist and eleven records were smashed at Sotheby’s 40th anniversary evening sale in Hong Kong on October 5.  The sale achieved US$145,188,462 over a pre-sale high estimate of $85 million.  No less than eleven artists records were established.  The top lot was Zeng Fanzhi’s  The Last Supper which made $23,273,151, a new record for a work by a living Chinese artist and a record for a work of contemporary Asian art.

It was standing room only in a saleroom crowded with nearly 700 people.  Bidding by phone and on the net came from 25 countries.  The auction achieved the highest total for any comparable sale in Asia  across the categories of  20^th Century Chinese Art, Contemporary Asian Art and Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art.   Five bidders competed for more than fifteen minutes for Zeng Fanzhi’s The Last Supper, a 2001 oil-on-canvas.

The record breaking run continued on October 6 when 20^th Century Chinese Art brought in US$96 Million and  Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art achieved US$29 Million.  Both auctions made records for a sale in the category.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for September 5, 2013 and August 12, 3013)

A selection of affordable Irish art comes under the hammer at Dolans sale in the Pillo Hotel, Galway on Sunday October 13.  Around 190 lots, including a number of antiques and collectibles, will come under the hammer.  Here is a small selection. The catalogue is online.

 

Elizabeth Brophy – In the Meadow (1,000-1,200) UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

Giacometti’s Grande tete de Diego will lead Sotheby’s evening sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in New York on November 6.  Estimated at $35-50 million this is the most ambitious in a series of innovative sculptures by the artist that personified the Existentialist movement during the Cold War.  The artist’s younger brother Diego served as model for this work.

Picasso”s Tete de femme from 1935, depicting his young lover and muse Marie-Therese Walter, is another highlight of the auction.  One of the most vibrant examples of his celebrated series depicting Marie-Therese it is estimated at $20-30 million.  Both pieces will travel to Hong Kong, London and Moscow this autumn before returning to New York. (Click on either image to enlarge).