First Look: Paintings & Calligraphy from an Important Asian Private Collection

Arnold Lee

Deng Fen, Scholars Playing Music in the Woods, 1959. Estimate HK$ 500,000-700,000.

Painted by Guangdong artist Deng Fen especially for the husband of his student, a well-known doctor in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 60s, Scholars Playing Music in the Woods is extremely rare due to its monumental size, spanning 6 feet in width. Depicting scholars playing qin in the wilderness, the music against the cool breeze of pines, auspicious clouds and waterfall creates a poetic and melodious ambience.

The collector comes from a prominent overseas Chinese family in Southeast Asia which ran a diversified business in trade and industry.

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Pu Ru, Sailing by the Autumn Mountains, 1946. Estimate HK$ 160,000-220,000.

The collector developed his passion for Chinese art during his studies in England in the 1950s and built up his collection of Chinese paintings in between the mid 60s to early 70s.

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Arnold Lee

Huang Binhong, Hermitage in Mountains, 1952. Estimate HK$ 700,000-900,000.

The collection, largely inherited from distinguished collectors from Hong Kong, assembled an extensive body of works by artists from Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong, including Zhang Daqian, Huang Binhong, Pu Ru, Yu Fei’an, Deng Fen, Li Xiongcai, and Gao Qifeng.

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Arnold Lee

Zhang Daqian, Beauty in Muse, 1949. Estimate HK$ 2,600,000-3,500,000.

Painted in 1949 during his sojourn in Hong Kong, Beauty in Muse was a gift to a close lady friend of Zhang Daqian. Portraying a classical lady deep in thought, the painting attests the artist’s mastery of elaborated figure painting, which reached its zenith in late 1940s after Zhang’s excursion to Dunhuang. The delicate brushwork, choice of colour, decorative garment pattern, and facial composition illustrates a distinctive style inspired by Dunhuang mural paintings from Tang dynasty.

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Pu Ru, Wandering in the Countryside. Estimate HK$ 1,500,000-2,000,000.

The collection has remained in private hand and good care for nearly half a century, complemented by a detailed list stating provenance and reviews, together with invoices and letters from dealers.

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Arnold Lee

Huang Junbi, Misty Mountains in Serenity. Estimate HK$ 160,000-200,000.

Being an extremely private man, the collector never showed any of these works publicly, only occasionally presenting one or two to family members and close friends.

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Arnold Lee

Huang Binhong, Recluse in Towering Mountains. Estimate HK$ 1,000,000-1,500,000.

It was until recently when the first part of the collection was released in UK and Hong Kong.

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Arnold Lee

Li Keran, Pavilions in Plum Blossom Grove, 1962. Estimate HK$ 1,500,000-2,000,000.

The modern Chinese paintings assemblage presented by Sotheby’s Hong Kong last fall, in particular, received critical acclaim. This spring, Sotheby’s is honored to present the second part - a collection of twenty four exquisite paintings.

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