LITERATI / CURIOSITY II DURING ITS SPRING SALES 2016

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Press Release Hong Kong For Immediate Release Hong Kong Bonnie Ko +852 2822 8143 bonnie.ko@sothebys.com New York Dan Abernethy dan.abernethy@sothebys.com London Matthew Floris matthew.floris@sothebys.

1 Press Release Hong Kong For Immediate Release Hong Kong Bonnie Ko New York Dan Abernethy London Matthew Floris SOTHEBY S HONG KONG PRESENTS LITERATI / CURIOSITY II DURING ITS SPRING SALES 2016 THIS SEASON S CABINET OF CURIOSITY INCLUDES WONDERS SPANNING MILLIONS OF YEARS AND ALL WORLD CULTURES, FROM A MAMMOTH SKULL TO A RUBENS DRAWING Hong Kong Public Exhibition: 1 4 April Auction: 5 April

Hong Kong, 18 March 2016 Sotheby s Hong Kong is delighted to present Literati / Curiosity II on 5 April (Tuesday) during its Spring Sales 2016 at Hall 5, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

2 Hong Kong, 18 March 2016 Sotheby s Hong Kong is delighted to present Literati / Curiosity II on 5 April (Tuesday) during its Spring Sales 2016 at Hall 5, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The sale offers a total of 143 lots estimated in excess of HK$53 million / US$6.8 million *. The Literati/Curiosity II sale stands at the crossroads of the Chinese scholar s aesthetic and the European cabinet of curiosity and presents an eclectic and thought-provoking assemblage of ancient Chinese scholar s rocks, old master drawings, contemporary ink art, objects of natural history, Song dynasty tea bowls, fragmentary sculpture and African art. Nicolas Chow, Deputy Chairman, Sotheby s Asia, International Head and Chairman, Chinese Works of Art, says, This season's cabinet of curiosity is populated by a large cast of malformed ancient stones and wooden stumps, many from a collection lovingly assembled in Japan; beasts from a distant past, real and fictional, including the massive skull of an erstwhile Mammoth; numerous gods, for the most part limbless or headless; aggressive ancient bronze ritual vessels; a formidable cast of three ecorches, unleashed on us by Rubens; chaste Song dynasty ceramics; and many other curious things formed by nature or man spanning millions of years to the present day. To complement these, we are presenting a small but rich selection of contemporary art. We hope that each and every one will find in this sale something to exalt or tease the eye. SALE HIGHLIGHTS OLD MASTER DRAWINGS The four European Old Master Drawings in the sale show how different artists across three centuries used a variety of different media and techniques to explore the human form and how to represent it. The undoubted star is the immensely powerful and evocative penand-ink anatomy study by Rubens, in which his flayed figures seem to twist and writhe. It, like the fine red chalk drawings by Bloemaert, was made in connection with a proposed academic publication. The other two drawings were made as studies for paintings: Natoire took a figure from a classical relief and adapted it for inclusion in his canvas, while Poynter clearly based his fine black chalk study on a posed, live model. All four drawings transport us back to the artist s moment of creation and invention. SCHOLAR S ROCKS The culture surrounding the appreciation of strange natural stone formations is deeply rooted in Taoist thought and the aesthetics of so called scholar s rocks developed primarily during the Song dynasty. The sale includes a rich selection of Chinese rocks highlighted by a collection of twenty-some pieces assembled in Japan over the last few decades, all desk size to be appreciated within the rarefied confines of the scholar s studio. The towering, intricately wrinkled Ying rock in the sale, together with the diminutive Ying rock formerly in the collection of Japanese scholar Nagao Uzan ( ) are particularly noteworthy for their dramatic and evocative form.

AFRICAN AND OCEANIC ART The selection of African and Oceanic art celebrates the creativity across the African continent and the broad area of the Pacific Islands where these objects have been created

This selection from the archaic Gimbala bronze horse and rider figure through the Bamana antelope headdress from Mali, and the Bamana Boli figure and the Middle Sepik River stone head from Papua New

It was this abstraction combined with a great spirituality which inspired the great artists of the early 20th century from Picasso, to Braque, to Derain, Matisse, Nolde and more to push the

3 AFRICAN AND OCEANIC ART The selection of African and Oceanic art celebrates the creativity across the African continent and the broad area of the Pacific Islands where these objects have been created for use within traditional ceremonial context. This selection from the archaic Gimbala bronze horse and rider figure through the Bamana antelope headdress from Mali, and the Bamana Boli figure and the Middle Sepik River stone head from Papua New Guinea, exemplifies the unique treatment of human and animal forms in the traditional context of the 16th to 19th centuries in which artists interpreted the forms in a highly abstract way. It was this abstraction combined with a great spirituality which inspired the great artists of the early 20th century from Picasso, to Braque, to Derain, Matisse, Nolde and more to push the boundaries of modern and contemporary art to greater degrees of abstraction, and to the birth of modernism. CONTEMPORARY INK ART The array of two-dimensional art works selected in this sale is united by the medium of paper, but is not limited to a specific genre, geography or time period. The ink art works include exemplary paintings by Chinese artists Chen Qikuan, Gao Xingjian, Liu Dan, Li Geng, Li Huayi and Qin Feng, as well as gestural calligraphic works by the modern Japanese Bokujinkai group founders, Yuichi Inoue and Shiryu Morita. Drawing upon the legacy of pure abstraction, the sale includes distinctive print portfolios by iconic American painters Brice Marden and Agnes Martin. The photographic works include the enigmatic images of Richard Serra s Joe sculpture by the multi-disciplinary artist Hiroshi Sugimoto and Japanese artist Tomoko Yoneda. The estimate range of this eclectic contemporary selection, which mixes ink painting, photography and prints, starts at HK$50,000 / US$6,400, and upwards. ANCIENT CHINESE SCULPTURE The sale includes a large number of superb Buddhist sculptures, mostly fragmentary, spanning from the Southern and Northern dynasties to the Ming dynasty. The complete Song dynasty wood figure of a seated bodhisattva rendered serene in meditation would have made a striking visual effect on temple visitors. They would have encountered this image in an elaborate almost stage-like setting with painted murals covering the walls. The traces of gilding and pigment hint at the original sumptuousness of the piece. The half-open eyes and gentle smile of this Buddha-tobe represent this figure s approachability, with the right hand raised in shunimudra, or the seal of patience. This fine piece is characteristic of the best Song dynasty Buddhist sculpture.

NATURAL HISTORY OBJECTS The Pleistocene mammoth skull defies the imagination

Artists through the centuries have derived inspiration from animal skeletons

formations from Fontainebleau in France which inspired the Surrealists.

HK$650,000 / US$1,100 US$83,000. Literati/Curiosity II 5 April 1. LOT 2845 2.

LOT 2834 1. Li Huayi Ensemble for Stone; Est. HK$1.8 2.

A Superbly Carved Wood Figure of a Seated Bodhisattva Song Dynasty; Est.

Bamana Crest Mask (Sogoni Kun) of the Tyi Wara Society Beledugu Region, Mali;

A Mammoth Skull, Mammuthus Primigenius (Woolly Mammoth), Late Pleistocene,

4 NATURAL HISTORY OBJECTS The Pleistocene mammoth skull defies the imagination and is in itself a journey through space and time. Artists through the centuries have derived inspiration from animal skeletons and indeed one is reminded of the large elephant s skull that still sits today in Henry Moore s studio. We are also presenting again a selection of Oligocene gogottes, bizarre sand formations from Fontainebleau in France which inspired the Surrealists. The array of prehistoric objects is estimated with a range of HK$9,000 HK$650,000 / US$1,100 US$83,000. Literati/Curiosity II 5 April 1. LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT LOT Li Huayi Ensemble for Stone; Est. HK$ million US$232, , A Superbly Carved Wood Figure of a Seated Bodhisattva Song Dynasty; Est. HK$5 7 million US$645, , Bamana Crest Mask (Sogoni Kun) of the Tyi Wara Society Beledugu Region, Mali; Est. HK$320, ,000 US$41,200 62, A Mammoth Skull, Mammuthus Primigenius (Woolly Mammoth), Late Pleistocene, Quaternary Period (2.6 million years old), Siberia; Est. HK$650, ,000 US$84,000 96, A Magnificent Large Limestone Sculpture of a Tianlu, Eastern Han - Jin Dynasty; Est. HK$ million US$580, , A Superb Ying Scholar s Rock, Song - Ming Dynasty; Est. HK$ million US$155, , Sir Peter Paul Rubens Anatomical studies of three male figures; Est. HK$4 6 million US$515, , Morita Shiryu Datsu (Emancipated); Est. HK$80, ,000 US$10,300 15,500

5 Image Download: Dropbox: Yunpan: (Access Code: 11c7) *Estimates do not include buyer s premium and prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer s premium. All catalogues are available online at View Video on The Literati/Curiosity II sale: NOTES TO EDITORS I) SOTHEBY'S HONG KONG SPRING SALES 2016 CALENDAR (The schedule is subject to change) Auction Category 2 April The Private Cellar of An International Collector Rare Wines & Whiskies Finest and Rarest Wines Featuring Ornellaia Archivio Storico (Part I) 3 April Finest and Rarest Wines Featuring Ornellaia Archivio Storico (Part II) Brushwork From Asia to The World Modern and Contemporary Asian Art Evening Sale (Modern Asian Art, Contemporary Asian Art and Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art) 4 April Modern Asian Art Day Sale Contemporary Asian Art Day Sale Modern And Contemporary Southeast Asian Art Day Sale The Origo Collection Contemporary Ink Art Chinese Paintings And Calligraphy From The Yong Li Studio 5 April Fine Chinese Paintings Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Literati / Curiosity II 6 April Important Watches The Pilkington Collection of Chinese Art Ming Furniture An Asian Private Collection Kangxi Emperorship and Power Emperors Playthings A Connoisseur s Collection Important Chinese Art HONG KONG EXHIBITION AND AUCTION VENUE Hall 5, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (New Wing), 1 Expo Drive, Wan Chai, Hong Kong II) ASIA TRAVELLING EXHIBITIONS CALENDAR Date City Venue March Taipei Hua Nan Bank International Convention Center III) UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS Date Event Venue 17 March - 26 March They Would Be Kings, An Exhibition Curated by Steve Lazarides Sotheby s Hong Kong Gallery 22 April - 3 May Zheng Chongbin: Structures Sotheby s Hong Kong Gallery IV) FOR MORE NEWS FROM SOTHEBY S Visit: Follow: & & WeChat (ID: sothebyshongkong) Join: Watch: Sotheby s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since Sotheby s became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973), India (1992) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby s presents auctions in nine different salesrooms, including New York, London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby s BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids from anywhere in the world. Sotheby s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby s Financial Services, the world s only full-service art financing company, as well as private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S 2, the gallery arm of Sotheby's Contemporary Art department, and two retail businesses, Sotheby s Diamonds and Sotheby s Wine. Sotheby s has a global network of 90 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).

FULL CIRCLE YOSHIHARA JIRO COLLECTION

FULL CIRCLE YOSHIHARA JIRO COLLECTION Press Release Hong Kong Hong Kong Ruby Hung +852 2822 8146 ruby.hung@sothebys.com New York Dan Abernethy +1 212 606 7176 dan.abernethy@sothebys.com London Matthew Floris +44 20 7293 5167 matthew.floris@sothebys.com