Van Gogh, Botticelli, Frida Kahlo: works by iconic Western artists on show in Hong Kong preview before going to auction
- Rothko and Van Gogh canvases and a Giacometti sculpture, each expected to sell for US$70 million-plus, and Botticelli’s Man of Sorrow, are in Sotheby’s preview
- It is a sign of the growing market in Asia for works by the most expensive Western artists; a collection of Wong Kar-wai film memorabilia is also up for sale
Botticelli, Van Gogh, Rothko. The fact that paintings by these Western artists are now being shown at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre is an indication of a growing market in Asia for the most expensive of Western paintings on the market today.
Sandro Botticelli’s Man of Sorrow (circa 1500) was brought here before its New York auction next January because an Asian collector had made the second-highest bid for his Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel (circa 1470-80) when it was sold for US$92 million in January, Sotheby’s says.
This sombre portrait of Jesus Christ with the crown of thorns and a halo of angels around his head was recently upgraded from a work merely associated with Botticelli’s workshop to one that was a full “autograph” work by the Florentine master, according to the Art Newspaper on October 6. The article also points out that works produced from Botticelli’s studio were often collaborations between the master and his assistants and that it could be difficult to ascertain just how directly Botticelli had a hand in a painting.
The discussion about the authorship of Man of Sorrow may bring to mind the debate over Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, another portrait of Christ that also began its pre-auction roadshow in Hong Kong before it was sold in New York. The appreciation of Christian art can traverse cultures and religions. The da Vinci, famously, has ended up in Saudi Arabia and reportedly displayed on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s yacht. Unsurprisingly, the Botticelli will be making a stop in Dubai after Hong Kong.
Other travelling exhibits at the Sotheby’s Hong Kong preview include works from the Macklowe Collection. The 65 works owned by Harry and Linda Macklowe are estimated to be worth US$600 million and include works by Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Alberto Giacometti and Cy Twombly. The reason why they are being sold is the second of the three Ds: divorce. (The other two common reasons for dismantling a collection are death and debt.)
The Rothko painting is his No. 7 (1951), a shimmering field of yellow surrounded by pink and orange that Sotheby’s is reportedly hoping to sell for at least U$70 million. The Giacometti sculpture is Le Nez (cast circa 1964), a clown-like head with an elongated nose like Pinocchio’s, suspended from a cage-like frame. It, too, is said to be valued at around US$70 million.
