To mark its first 10th anniversary, Poly Auction Hong Kong is going to present the 10th Anniversary Modern and Contemporary Auction on 12 and 13 July. The Evening and Day Sales of Modern and Contemporary Art will feature some of the most sought-after and record-breaking artists of recent years, with over 150 of artworks including 20th Century Modern Art, and Eastern and Western Contemporary Art, with a number of museum-quality masterpieces. The Modern and Contemporary Art sales will be led by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s masterpiece “Untitled”, which is one of the earliest works of the legendary artist that marked his signature visual symbols with the Black face and the three-pointed crown. Other influential artists at the Evening Sale include Wayne Thiebaud, Adrian Ghenie, Yayoi Kusama, Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Enli, Izumi Kato and Huang Yuxing; the day sale is led by KAWS, Katherine Bernhardt, Liu Xiaodong, and Zhou Chunya.
LARRY’S LIST has selected 10 highlights to watch out for from the Evening and Day Sales of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Lot 6 – Stars, 2012
acrylic on canvas
44 x 45 cm. (17 1/2 x 17 1/2 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 5,500,000 – 8,500,000
US$ 705,100 – 1,089,700
As Yoshimoto Nara once said, “Any simple picture in a book can tell a whole story.” “Stars” (2012) (Lot 6) compiles many of his classic symbols into one story. The innocent-looking child embodies many symbols with a significance to life. Through these naive child-like images, the artist makes a call for social care, hoping to resonate with viewers and evoke more thoughts and inquiries about invisible elements on a more complex and deeper level.
Lot 7 – Logo, 1984
acrylic, oilstick and silkscreen on canvas
152 x 122 cm. (59 3/4 x 48 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 11,000,000 – 22,000,000
US$ 1,410,300 – 2,820,500
“Logo” (Lot 7) perfectly reflects Jean-Michel Basquiat’s later works exploration of the deconstruction and remodeling of advertisements, trademarks, symbols, comics and texts. It demonstrates his mastery of multiple media from 1982-1984 under the influence of many masters. During this periodof being a rising star, Basquiat’s genius use of colour and maze-like visual symbols became more and more readily available, and his visual language became very sophisticated and all-encompassing, including the use of screen-printing technique in “Logo”, which was a result of his mutual influence with Andy Warhol during this period. This technique made his work of this period more flexible and ambitious.
Lot 8 – Untitled, 1981
acrylic, spray paint, oilstick and paper collage on canvas
122 x 142 cm. (48 x 56 in.)
Estimate Upon Request
After a 22-year absence from the auction market, “Untitled” (Lot 8) returns a manifestation of the legendary Jean-Michel Basquiat’s frank and enigmatic charm. This masterpiece, with its combative African mask-like Black figures at its heart, is the very first Black figure as a symbol of his early collage-based paintings, which is also his most personal visual language that has remained with Basquiat throughout his career life . “Untitled” is full of semantic meaning, with images from primitive tribes, such as Africa and Egypt, as well as materials drawn from comic children’s drawings, American pop culture, or masters of different periods.
Lot 9 – Infinity Nets (BSGK), 2015
acrylic on canvas
162 x 162 cm. (65 x 65 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 16,500,000 – 25,000,000
US$ 2,115,400 – 3,205,100
Yayoi Kusama suffered from neurological audiovisual impairment when she was barely ten years old, which led to frequent visual and auditory hallucinations. Kusama tries to control her mental struggle through this paranoid repetition of brushstrokes.
In 1960s, she started her colourful Infinity Nets series, which became increasingly varied in colours, creating a more exciting visual experience. Infinity Nets (BSGK) (Lot 9) created in 2015 has a bright yellow underlay of orange-red netting and is a dazzling display of two bright yet similar colours. The work demonstrates a strong visual impact from the orderly repetition of the structure.
Lot 11 – Encased Cakes, 2010-2011
oil on canvas
182.9 x 121.9 cm. (72 x 48 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 60,000,000 – 86,000,000
US$ 7,669,000 – 10,992,300
Wayne Thiebaud was obsessed with ritualistic arrangements of cakes, sandwiches and sweets in the 1960s. He was known as “the hungriest artist in California.” His work frequently depicts commonly seen food and consumer goods. “Encased Cakes” (Lot 11) brings together the twists and turns of each creative process, on the basis of geometric arrangement of cakes in the 1960s, the dazzling colours of the 1970s, and finally the multiperspectives of the 1990s, interlocking cuts of the picture have been applied. It is a perfect summary of the artist’s creative journey and can be considered as a “masterpiece” of his career.
Lot 12 – Lidless Eye, 2016-2018
oil on canvas
180.4 x 149.8 cm. (71 x 59 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 50,000,000 – 75,000,000
US$ 6,390,900 – 9,586,300
Born in the late 1970s, Adrian Ghenie from Romania is a highly acclaimed star of the new generation who received acclamation from the academics to art collectors. “Lidless Eye” (Lot 12) is a self-portrait of Ghenie and is one of the largest self-portraits by the artist to appear on the market to date. The work is a clear tribute to and also influenced by Vincent van Gogh, the master of Post-Impressionism. To Ghenie, van Gogh was a spiritual mentor whom he studied religiously. He was touched by his sensitive and delicate yet wild brushstrokes.
Lot 13 – We Series – Self Portrait, 2002
oil on canvas
250 x 174 cm. (98 1/2 x 68 1/2 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 7,500,000 – 10,000,000
US$ 961,500 – 1,282,100
Zeng Fanzhi is one of the most prominent and unique contemporary Chinese artists, both in terms of his achievements and artistry. His “We” series, started in 2002, is full of illogical, accidental and automatic brushstrokes that elevate the rhythm of painting to a new context. In “We Series: Self-Portrait” (Lot 13), the red skin tone inherits the core of the artist’s work. The extremely enlarged composition reinforces the intense mood of the self-portrait, with the gleaming eyes looking straight ahead, and the quiet, expressionless features giving the audience both majestic and seemingly speechless feeling, allowing the viewer to be drawn into the turbulent and passionate emotions.
Lot 23 – Subtiles nuées, 1991
oil on canvas
200.4 x 200 cm. (79 x 78 1/2 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 15,000,000 – 25,000,000
US$ 1,923,100 – 3,205,100
In 2016, Chu Teh-Chun broke his own auction record with “Snowy Vertigo” (1991-1999) and rose to a multi-million dollar artist. Since then, collectors have taken a greater interest in his works from the 1990s, which are rich in natural energy. “Subtiles nuées” (Lot 23) is a work from the same period, with its large scale and silvery-grey backdrop evoking the touch of a snowstorm in the Alps in Swiss, in which the transparency of the brushstrokes are as if a faint layer of snow is covering the mountain scene. This method brings a sense of space and light to the painting.
Mosaic Floor, 2009
oil on canvas
159.5 x 299.5 cm. (63 x 118 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 1,900,000 – 2,500,000
US$ 243,600 – 320,500
Since 2000, Zhang Enli has been challenging himself to find possibilities in ordinary, everyday things and reinterpreting his own personality through painting. “Mosaic Floor” (Lot 25) gives a new life to the mosaic patterns often found in old Shanghai villas. The artist once said, “An object is not just an object, but also implies a certain kind of connection – a relationship with the surrounding place and space, and a connection with the viewer’s mind and spirit.” 2009 was his most important year of his career when Zhang Enli had his first solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland, and “Mosaic Floor” was also created in the same year as his first solo exhibition.
Mr. DOB, 2019
fiberglass sculpture
130.3 x 81 x 157 cm. (51 1/2 x 32 x 61 3/4 in.)
Estimate
HK$ 5,000,000 – 7,000,000
US$ 639,100 – 894,700
The light-hearted and mischievous Mr. DOB (Lot 30) is the embodiment of Takashi Murakami’s true self, a virtual character first created by the artist in 1993. It has the resemblance to Disney’s Mickey Mouse, the typical Japanese super-flat animation style of big watery eyes, the influence of Japanese anime Doraemon and lastly the game Sonic Boy’s colour scheme can be seen in gloves and socks.
As Takashi Murakami said, “Mr. DOB was born out of my own reflection towards social phenomenon, but after his birth, he seems to have taken on a life of his own.”
