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| Lee Man Fong's Fortune and Longevity |
Sotheby’s Hong Kong will present its Southeast Asian Paintings Autumn Sale 2012 on 7 October at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The auction will bring to market an exceptionally strong line-up of modern masterpieces, many of them fresh-to-market with an emphasis on impeccable provenance, rarity and quality. Rounded off by some of the finest examples in Contemporary Southeast Asian art, the collection represents the original, the eclectic, the cutting edge, and the timeless. Offering more than 150 works, the sale is expected to fetch in excess of HK$45 million / US$5.8 million.
Mok Kim Chuan, Sotheby's Head of southeast Asian Paintings, said: "This Autumn, Sotheby's is proud to present a sophisticated array of outstanding works by prominent Southeast Asian modern masters, amassed from prestigious private collections around the world. This attests Sotheby's leading position in this market with enables us to source some of the finest properties for auction. Headlining the sale is Lee Man Fong's Fortune and Longevity, a unique work among Lee's corpus and a masterpiece that balances the East and the West. No known work by the artist rivals it in its scale, rarity, significance, historical context, as well as creative and technical brilliance. It is an immense privilege for Sotheby's to be entrusted with such important painting.
Other important modern works by major artists from the region are also worthy of note: from early pieces by Le Pho, rare lacquer works by Pham Hau, paintings from different periods by Fernando Amorsolo, to a rare assemblage of works by the five pioneer Nanyang artists from Singapore, among others. Bringing together works of such calibre in one season is an extremely rare occasion, and the sale is sure to attract active participation by new established art collectors alike."
Indonesia
In April 2010, Sotheby's Hong Kong presented Lee Man Fong's (1913 - 1988) Bali Life which achieved an impressive HK$25.3 million / US$3.2 million world record for any Southeast Asian painting at auction. This season, Sotheby's is privileged to offer another rare painting by the artist - Fortune and Longevity (expected to fetch in excess of HK$12 million / US$1.54 million; pictured above). Executed in 1951, during the most pivotal years of the artist's career, this epic painting (86 x 260 cm) is one of his largest and most exquisitely executed. Extremely rare in Lee Man Fong's oeuvre, Fortune and Longevity was kept in private hands since its completion and is offered at auction this Autumn for the first time in more than six decades.
Fortune and Longevity is a compelling masterpiece that reaffirms Lee's contribution and influence as a pioneer Southeast Asian artist who created a brilliant synthesis of Eastern and Western art. The serene depiction of people of different generations feasting and dancing is brought alive by his striking brushstrokes, exhibiting immense technical skill which emulates the fluidity of Chinese ink, but using oil. The painting celebrates peace, prosperity, abundance and good health, expressed through the Chinese calligraphy used by the artist in addition to the auspicious symbols such as the pumpkin - a symbol of prosperity, abundance, good luck spanning generations - and the qi lin, a symbol of good omen, protection, prosperity, success and longevity. It is Lee's deepest empathy for humanism that imbues the painting with soul, bringing with it the artist's vision and wishes for a better life for the people.
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