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Asian art goes under the hammer at New York sales
2007-09-17
Asian art is under the spotlight at almost a dozen auctions in New York this week, with lots ranging from 19th century erotic scrolls to contemporary Chinese artworks due to go under the hammer. Highlights of the week include a collection of 18th century Chinese snuff bottles at Christie's and a rare 13th century Tibetan Buddhist bronze figure at Sotheby's expected to reach in excess of 3.5 million dollars. The 107 snuff bottles known as the Meriem collection belonged to Canadian philanthropist and collector Mary Margaret Young, who died in 2005. The intricately-decorated enamel works are becoming increasingly popular with international collectors, according to Christie's specialist Jen Lyn Low, and were expected to realize between 2.4 and 3.3 million dollars. Among the leading Indian and Pakistani modern and contemporary art works on sale are paintings by Indian artists Tyeb Mehta and Francis Newton Souza. Mehta's 1996 work "Mahisasura," depicting the Hindu goddess Durga and a buffalo demon, was to be one of the highlights at Christie's South Asian sale on Thursday, carrying an upper estimate of 1.25 million dollars. Chinese ceramics, jades and sculptures, some of them dating from the 11th century, were to go under the hammer at Christie's on Wednesday, with one of the highlights being a gilt-bronze figure from southern Yunnan province. The auction house was expecting buyers from America, Europe, Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China to show interest in the sale, despite some jitters in the US economy, said Athena Zonars, the head of Chinese works of art. "When the market turns a little bit, it doesn't really affect us because people who have money still have money and if they're looking for something great, they going to go and buy it," she told AFP. "It's getting so much harder to find great things, so if there's something really rare, they're going to find the money to buy it." She said that while mainland Chinese collectors were buying into the lower and middle sections of the market, European, American and Hong Kong and Taiwanese collectors were still dominating the top tiers. "They don't really have the confidence to buy at the really high end yet. They're still learning and experimenting," she said. Among the top lots at Sotheby's sale of Chinese ceramics and works of art on Tuesday were two Qing dynasty bronze figures, carrying an upper estimate of 1.8 million dollars, and a 14th century blue and white jar at the same price. One of the highest-profile auctions of the week is likely to be Sotheby's sale of contemporary Chinese, Japanese and Korean art on Thursday. Among the highlights is a work by cynical realist Yue Minjun, whose "Infanta," displaying his familiar style of depicting subjects wearing a broad smile, was expected to fetch up to 2.5 million dollars. The sale also features works by Zhang Xiaogang. Two of his "Bloodlines" series are in the sale as well as "Chapter of a New century -- Birth of the People's Republic of China," with an upper estimate of 2.5 million dollars.
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