This season, Phillips and Poly Auction continue to partner for the 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Sales in Hong Kong on 29 – 30 November. The strategic partnership at the 100%-sold 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design sales held in June realized HK $702 Million/ US$90.4 Million.
The upcoming auctions will encompass works by Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary masters, as well as works by the most in-demand artists on the market today. Led by an incandescent masterpiece by Gerhard Richter, the sales will also be highlighted by works from Yoshitomo Nara, Zeng Fanzhi, Liu Ye, Matthew Wong, Julie Curtiss, Salman Toor, and Javier Calleja. As demand for Western and African art continue to heat up in Asia, the Evening and Day Sales will also feature Asia auction debuts by Billie Zangewa, Scott Kahn, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Raymond Pettibon, Mickalene Thomas, and more.
LARRY’S LIST has highlighted 13 lots from the upcoming auctions by artists who have made appealing fashion collaborations.
Evening Sale: 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale
1) YAYOI KUSAMA
Repetition, 1998
sewn stuffed fabric, wood and paint, in 120 parts
each 38 x 25.6 x 15 cm
overall 228 x 512 x 15 cm
Estimate:
HK$15,000,000 – 20,000,000
€1,680,000-2,240,000
$1,920,000-2,560,000
“Repetition” is a rare, significant work by Kusama, boasting a sophisticated combination of key motifs for which she is best known. “Repetition” is one of only two exceptional examples that feature 120 individually crafted and signed components. The artist collaborated with Louis Vuitton for the Infinity Dots collection — a ready-to-wear and accessories collection, which was inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s unique style and most representative works.
2) ZENG FANZHI
Untitled 09-7-1, 2009
oil on canvas
200 x 200 cm. (78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in.)
Estimate:
HK$8,000,000 – 15,000,000
€904,000-1,700,000
$1,030,000-1,920,000
Zeng Fanzhi succeeded in finding the connecting point between the East and West through his adaptation of “luanbi” (loose-brush technique), which came to be his “Abstract Landscape” series.This painting demonstrates brushstrokes much like the cursive script of Chinese calligraphy yet styled rhythmically like music. The artist has collaborated with Louis Vuitton to create a Capucines bagbased upon one of his reinterpretations of a Van Gogh self-portrait.
Pandora’s Box, 1990
acrylic on canvas
90 x 90 cm. (35 3/8 x 35 3/8 in.)
Estimate:
HK$7,500,000 – 10,000,000
€848,000-1,130,000
$962,000-1,280,000
“Pandora’s Box” was created when Nara was studying in Germany and became deeply influenced by the German Neo-Expressionism. Studying alone in Germany, Nara felt intensely lonely — the slightly opened Pandora’s Box in the young girl’s hand is not only a symbol of the artist’s hope in the face of loneliness, but also a testimony of Nara’s courage and belief in never backing down from a difficult situation. Nara had his first fashion collaboration this year with Stella McCartney on a unisex collection of knitwear, silk sets, and handbags.
4) KAWS
NEW YORK, 2018
acrylic on canvas
243.8 x 243.8 cm (96 x 96 in)
Estimate:
HK$4,000,000 – 6,000,000
€448,000-672,000
$513,000-769,000
With its commanding scale and refined graphic style, “NEW YORK” is a prime example of American artist KAWS’s unique visual language. As the chosen composition to feature as the cover image of KAWS’s collaboration with New York Magazine for the publication’s 50thanniversary year-long public arts programme, the image most recently appeared on a KAWS x COMME de GARÇONS 2021 perfume bottle design.
5) LIU YE
Flagship No. 2, 1997
acrylic and oil on canvas
29 x 22 cm. (11 3/8 x 8 5/8 in.)
Estimate:
HK$2,000,000 – 3,000,000
€226,000-339,000
$256,000-385,000
Red, once served as a unique Chinese symbol, became the iconic context behind Liu’s creations in the late 1990s, such as in “Flagship No.2”. A lot of his works in the 1990s were inspired by Surrealism and Metaphysical Paintings — thus the fantastical colours in the current work. Liu Ye collaborated with luxury brand Elie Bleu to create limited-editioned cigar humidors based on one of his paintings.
6) HUANG YUXING
Floating Bubbles, 2014
acrylic on linen
200 x 299.5 cm (78 3/4 x 117 7/8 in)
Estimate:
HK$1,800,000 – 2,800,000
€202,000-314,000
$231,000-359,000
“Floating Bubbles” is a mesmerising work by Huang Yuxing, rendered in electrifying shades of neon with each hue competing for the spotlight — she claims that “Neon represents the colour of our generation.” The work embodies Huang’s reflections on time, life, and matter, blurring the boundaries between the real and fantastica. Huang was recently invited to collaborate with Louis Vuitton for their 2021“Artycapucines’ collection.
Untitled (Force makes nature…), 1999
ink and watercolour on paper
59.5 x 45.5 cm (23 3/8 x 17 7/8 in)
Estimate:
HK$1,500,000 – 2,500,000
€168,000-280,000
$192,000-321,000
Having emerged from the Los Angeles punk scene of the 1980s, Raymond Pettibon’s art aims to satirise and scrutinise pop culture, and is thus borne of his propensity for being anti-establishment.Pettibon’s wave works can now be found in the permanent collections of museums worldwide, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He collaborated with art collector and gallerist-turned-designer Kim Jones for Dior’s men’s 2019/20 winter collection.
8) ROBERT NAVA
Angel Shark, 2020
acrylic on canvas
182.7 x 213.8 cm (71 7/8 x 84 1/8 in)
Estimate:
HK$1,200,000 – 1,800,000
€134,000-202,000
$154,000-231,000
American artist Robert Nava once referred to his drawings and paintings as bearing the same skill and realism as Diego Velazquez, and yet, despite the premature mastery of his medium, “it took [Nava] a lifetime to learn how to draw like a kid again’. The current work is a prime example of Nava’s interpretation of the aquatic creature. The artist has collaborated with Heron Preston on thebrand’s clothing collections.
Looking Up from the She Works Hard For the Money Pin-Up series, 2004
acrylic, rhinestones and oil enamel on wood panel
121.9 x 91.4 cm (48 x 36 in)
Estimate:
HK$1,000,000 – 2,000,000
€112,000-224,000
$128,000-256,000
Mickalene Thomas is deliberately subversive in her art practice: she defies heteronormative discourse, redefines beauty, empowers women of colour, all the while blurring the divide between low and high art. Currently subject of a global solo show, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Thomas’ body of works has been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art, and is collected by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The artist has collaborated with Dior to reinterpret the ‘Bar’ jacket and the ‘Lady Dior’ handbag.
Day Sale: 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale
1) AMOAKO BOAFO
Golden Frames, 2018
oil on paper
100 x 70 cm (39 3/8 x 27 1/2 in)
Estimate:
HK$800,000 – 1,200,000
€89,700-135,000
$103,000-154,000
20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale
Aiming to “represent, document, celebrate, and show new ways to approach Blackness”, Boafo uses a finger-painting technique echoing Egon Schiele’s textured works, abstracting skin into a swirling mass of blue, beiges, reds, and browns. Early this year, Dior designer Kim Jones teamed up with the 36-year-old Ghanaian artist, whom he met at his show at the Rubell Museum in Miami, to incorporate Boafo’s paintings into Dior’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection.
2) MR DOODLE
The Persistence of Doodling, 2019
acrylic on canvas
100 x 150 cm (39 3/8 x 59 in)
Estimate:
HK$500,000 – 800,000
€56,000-89,600
$64,100-103,000
20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale
Mr Doodle began his artistic career at the age of 9, scribbling over the surface of anything and everything. The current work, “The Persistence of Doodling”, features several dripping clocks laced tightly in Mr Doodle’s characteristic fashion — in reference to Salvador Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory. Mr Doodle has explored several collaborations with iconic brands including Adidas, MTV, Fendi, and PUMA.
3) YAYOI KUSAMA
Flowers, 1989
acrylic on canvas
45.5 x 38 cm (18 x 15 in)
Estimate:
HK$3,000,000 – 5,000,000
€336,000-560,000
$385,000-641,000
20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale
The year 1989 was a significant turning point when Yayoi Kusama gained attention in the international art scene. Created at this moment of significance, the piece titled “Flowers” is set against a background of the iconic “Infinity Nets”, which is a creative signature that spans six decades of Yayoi Kusama’s art career. The different textures of the netting have changed throughout the different periods — here the ‘Infinity Nets’ has a dense and delicate texture.
4) YAYOI KUSAMA
Infinity Nets, 1988
acrylic on canvas
45.5 x 38 cm (18 x 15 in)
Estimate:
HK$1,600,000 – 2,500,000
€179,000-280,000
$205,000-321,000
20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale
Created in the late 1980s, this current work is an image of intertwined green tubes, which are filled with dense, overlapping red and yellow polka dots. For Yayoi Kusama, the dots represent cells and molecules that are the most basic components of life. They are also a signal from the universe and nature that creates a continuity between things.
