Session I. Evening Sale
Auction Preview: 11 - 18 June 2021
K11 ATELIER and K11 MUSEA Hong Kong
Live Auction: 18 June 2021
5/F, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery, One Pacific Place, Admiralty
Session II. Day Sale
Online Auction: 10 - 22 June 2021
www.sothebys.com/jaychou
Sotheby’s is thrilled to announce JAY CHOU x SOTHEBY’S, a ground-breaking collaboration between Sotheby’s and legendary musical icon and avid art collector Jay Chou. A trailblazing partnership uniting entertainment and fine art, the much-anticipated auction marks the grand inaugural edition of Sotheby’s celebrated CONTEMPORARY CURATED auction series in Asia.
Known as the “King of Mandopop”, Jay Chou is an international pop musician, singer-songwriter, actor and director whose music, stage performances and movies have captured the hearts of millions. As one of the world’s biggest influencers with more than 6.4 million followers on Instagram (@jaychou), Jay is also well recognised in the Asian and international art scene as a passionate and avid art collector.
I have always believed in the power of art – a medium of expression that sees no boundary or limitation. It isn’t something you need to try to get close to – by nature, it envelops our life each and every day. I feel that I have a mission to share my feelings about the art that inspires and motivates me. Through my music, my filming projects, my social media and by collaborating with Sotheby’s, I hope more people will understand what art brings to our lives. My dream is that this collaboration will leave audiences with different ways of understanding and appreciating the art that surrounds us every day.
As eminent curator of the inaugural edition of CONTEMPORARY CURATED: ASIA, Jay demonstrates his cutting-edge taste and vision through selecting and curating a distinguished assemblage of exceptional works, to be offered in a highly anticipated Evening Sale on 18 June and an online Day Sale from 10 – 22 June. The Evening Sale is led by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled from 1985, an iconic work that was featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine in 1985. Highlighting the auction's role as a vehicle to bring together entertainment and fine art, Jay Chou has selected three sets of bespoke concert costumes worn during his seventh, The Invincible, world tour which will be sold to benefit charity.
As an esteemed and discerning collector and one of the most talented musicians of our generation, Jay often incorporates works from his art collection into his music videos – engineering compelling convergences of art, music, and entertainment. With his immense popularity in Asia, Jay’s visions shape and influence the culture in the region. This June, the collaboration between Sotheby’s and Jay presents an unprecedented coming together of entertainment and fine art, celebrating the best from both worlds. We are thrilled to welcome you on this inspiring journey.
Sotheby’s is extremely honoured to have Jay on board for this exciting project – there is no better person to be the face of the Asia’s debut iteration of Contemporary Curated, one of Sotheby’s most creative auction series. Jay’s music and artistic vision inspires many in our generation, and with the rise of a younger collecting community in the region, this ground-breaking auction is set to demonstrate the strength of the Asian art scene to the world.
At Enviseam our vision is to use entertainment to make art accessible to new audiences in unique ways. The partnership with Sotheby’s and Jay Chou challenges the traditional way art and auctions are understood, viewed and delivered. Enviseam is pleased to have been able to bring to Sotheby’s a collection curated by an artist who is himself a collector. Jay is a truly global talent whose international standing as an artist and collector will enable us to fundamentally change not just how art is appreciated by traditional audiences - but extend our reach to new ‘consumers’ of culture to transform the audience itself.
With generous support from K11 Group, the ground-breaking collaboration will be preceded by an auction preview in Hong Kong, with works on display from 11 – 18 June. Stay tuned for updates.
EVENING SALE HIGHLIGHTS
Arresting, monumental, and tremendously emblematic, Untitled from 1985 by Jean-Michel Basquiat is amongst the best-known masterworks by the artist, featured in the iconic photograph of Basquiat published on the cover of The New York Times Magazine in 1985.
1985 represents the absolute apex of Basquiat’s rise to international recognition, as attested by his cover feature in a publication as prominent as The New York Times Magazine. By choosing to position himself in front of the present work for that photograph, Basquiat cements Untitled as the embodiment of that seminal pinnacle in his career.
Created in a triptych format, Untitled juxtaposes Basquiat’s iconic black warrior, which draws on the visual vocabulary of African masks, and the Jaguar, an important Aztec warrior symbol, with a figure resembling Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes’ farcical knight errant. In so doing, Basquiat contrasts the raw ferocity of African and Mesoamerican visual cultures with the pomposity of European chivalry and tradition.
Exemplifying Basquiat’s trademark fusion of figuration and gestural abstraction, Untitled maintains the spontaneity and fluidity of graffiti in its explosive execution while articulating the artist’s vision and searing erudite precision.
Untitled will be exhibited alongside the original chairs from Basquiat’s studio that were photographed and featured on The New York Times Magazine cover.
1969, oil on canvas, 116 x 89 cm
Est: HK$93,000,000 - 143,000,000 / US$11,990,000 - 18,430,000
Executed in 1969, Buste d’homme is a powerful portrait that encapsulates the key themes of Picasso’s late work. The portrait belongs to a small group of works in which Picasso explored one of Van Gogh’s most powerful portraits, Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat from 1887. Picasso combines this tribute to Van Gogh with the figure of his alter-ego – the musketeer, identifiable through the playful half moustache. In so doing, Picasso makes a powerful statement about his place in the history of art.
2005 – 2006, inkjet and acrylic on canvas, 280 x 168 cm
Est: HK$75,000,000 - 95,000,000 / US$9,670,000 - 12,240,000
Runaway Nurse from 2005-2006 by Richard Prince is amongst the most beautiful and unique within the artist’s celebrated Nurse Paintings, nodding to not one but two vintage novels: the 1948 film noir crime novel Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, and the 1964 dime-store novel Runaway Nurse. Charged with provocation and intellectual rigour, Runaway Nurse challenges traditional gender constructs while encapsulating Prince’s complex conceptual project which has long sought to subvert notions of authorship, authenticity and identity.
1978, acrylic on canvas, 205.5 x 408.5 cm
Est: HK$ 32,000,000 - 48,000,000 / US$4,130,000 - 6,190,000
Untitled (Double Concentric Square) is scintillating in its electric hues and elegant orchestration of colour harmonies. Encapsulating Stella’s brilliant and incisive intellectual rigour, the work is emblematic of Twentieth-Century Minimalism and represents one of the most stridently revolutionary and cogent achievements in the canon of Contemporary Art.
1963, oil on canvas, 100 x 80.5 cm
Est: HK$30,000,000 - 50,000,000 / US$3,870,000 - 6,450,000
14.05.63 is an exquisite example from Zao Wou-Ki’s celebrated 1960s Hurricane Period. Situated between traditional Eastern landscape and contemporary global abstraction, Zao Wou-Ki’s gestural vocabulary orchestrates a breathtaking symphony between line and form, colour and contour, manifesting a majestic transcendent aura echoing the natural rhythms of the universe.
DAY SALE HIGHLIGHTS
