STYLE Edit: Chinese masterpiece valued at up to US$5.1 million to be auctioned in Hong Kong
Zao Wou-Ki’s oil painting, ‘01.03.99’ – part of the Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art sale – will feature at China Guardian Hong Kong Spring Auctions on March 30 and 31
If you’ve ever wanted to see a multimillion-dollar artwork up close, here’s your chance.
China Guardian Auctions will be hosting its Spring Auctions on March 30 and 31 at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong.
The event will feature the much-anticipated Asian 20th Century and Contemporary Art sale, which includes never-before-auctioned pieces by notable Chinese artists.
Under the theme “Abstractionism – The Resonance of Souls”, a masterpiece by the late Chinese-French painter Zao Wou-Ki will be presented at auction for the first time ever.
The oil-on-canvas artwork, 01.03.99, measuring 1.6 metres (64 inches) by 1.3 metres, has an estimated value of HK$30 million to HK$40 million. (US$3.8 million to US$5.1 million)
The Beijing-born artist moved to Paris in 1948 and was influenced by Western modernism.
By 1959, Zao was no longer naming his work – in an effort to avoid providing any visual connotations – which is why they are titled with the date of completion instead; the painting 01.03.99 was completed in 1999.
He died in 2013, aged 92, but his artworks have been auctioned posthumously and attracted record prices. Sotheby’s reported last October that Zao’s Juin-Octobre 1985 was sold for HK$510 million – a world record at auction for an oil painting by an Asian artist.