(5 Apr 2016) LEAD IN:
A fine Chinese painting and a 10.10-carat blue diamond have sold at record-breaking prices in an auction in Hong Kong.
A splashed-ink-and-colour painting by well-known Chinese artist Zhang Daqian went for nearly USD $35 million - more than three times the initial estimate.
STORY-LINE:
Perhaps it's an understatement for the auctioneer to describe the hanging scroll "Peach Blossom Spring" as "magnificent" and "wonderful".
Its appearance at auction sparked a frenetic, almost hour long session of bidding, pushing the price into record territory.
The hammer fell at almost USD $31 million dollars.
The final price, USD $34.9 million, including buyer's premium, is more than triple Sotherby's estimate.
Completed in 1982, "Peace Blossom Spring" is considered one of Zhang Daqian's most important last-period paintings.
Painted on a 209cm (82.3 inches) x 92.2 cm (36.3 inches) paper, the artist paid tribute to an ideal place he dreamt to live in.
He relocated to Taipei outskirts in 1970s to have a quiet life at his riverside idyll. The suburb, however, soon turned into a popular residential area that disrupted its tranquility, which inspired him to "Peach Blossom Spring".
Long Museum in Shanghai won the bid.
The Chinese private museum's final competitors are buyers from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to Kevin Ching, Sotherby's Asia Chief Executive Officer.
"The bidding war actually started and actually lasted for over 50 minutes, and it took over a hundred bids to get to the final hammer price. The record breaking hammer price of 271 million (including buyer's premium) Hong Kong dollars (34.9 million USD). This is a record obviously for the artist. It's a new world record, and the actual bidding process, almost an hour, over a hundred bids, that itself actually is also a record for Sotheby's auctions in Hong Kong," he says.
Sotherby's says throughout his six decades of artistic career, Zhang Daqian has different styles on painting, in this late-period work he combined traditional brushwork with new techniques.
Another of his works, "Verdant Mountains in Sichuan" sold for USD $4.5 million.
A 2.6 million year old woolly mammoth skull from Siberia was also up for auction, selling for USD $319,771, more than triple what Sotherby's had expected.
The spring sale also included an auction of contemporary Asian art.
The lots included in this auction include works by controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's installations and Japanese post-war art pioneer Yayoi Kusama.
Ai is famous for pieces addressing human rights abuses, official corruption and the collision between Chinese culture and Western consumerism.
He was detained in China in 2011 and released after 81 days in jail,
Made up of 35 wooden stools from the Qing Dynasty, Ai's installation "Grapes" is a critique of China's approach to its own cultural development.
It sold for USD $241,800, which was within the estimated price range of USD $193,440 to $283,700.
Another piece from Ai attracted higher bids, "Zodiac head - Monkey" is a gilded bronze sculpture.
It sold for USD $443,588, topping the estimated price of between $232,110 and $322,375.
Repetitive dots are Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama's lifelong inspiration, obsession and passion.
Dots had a rather sad beginning for Kusama. Since her childhood, she had recurring hallucinations. Immersing herself in her art was a way of overcoming her fears and hallucinations.
"Infinity-Nets (OQABT)" is a sprawling canvas measuring 288 centimetres by 556 centimetres.
He says blue diamonds are in high demand in the region.
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