Eastern Imports

March 2009 Datebook

Tried and True

La Vie Bohème

Artillery of Art

Nosy Business

Shades of Sickert

Good Tradition

A Loud Squeak

Katsushika Hokusai Bada Shanren Subodh Gupta Kang Ik-Joong Akbar Padamsee Rashid Rana Taikan Yokoyama FIAC’s Cour Carrée “So Good It’s Scary”

Send a letter to the Editor

Save to Del.icio.us Digg this

On March 18, Christie’s is holding a 200-lot auction of bronzes, jades, furniture, classical Chinese painting and Buddhist stone sculptures from the collection of the late Arthur M. Sackler — the bulk of which remains in Sackler’s namesake Smithsonian gallery, in Washington, D.C. The sale, which includes a set of four hanging scrolls painted by the 17th-century master Bada Shanren (est. $300-500,000), is expected to earn more than $4 million.

The following day, the house is offering rare-to-market works formerly owned by the late Beijing-based dealer Walter Hochstadter.Specialist Joe-Hynn Yang has high hopes for the sale’s highlight, a blue and white Ming Dynasty bowl (est. $400-600,000) from the Yongle period (1403-25): "A fresh piece like this, whose shape and design is unrecorded on the market, is going to make fireworks."

Sotheby’s is hosting its Chinese works of art session — the first of its two Asia Week auctions — on March 17. Going under the hammer are four lots that once belonged to Gordon Getty (son of J. Paul). One is a 19th-century "automaton," a mechanical design that became a staple of imperial workshops after the 17th century. The Getty example, which depicts a mountain scene using such sublime materials as coral, silk and kingfisher feathers, is estimated to fetch between $250,000 and $350,000. That same day, Doyle New York is holding its Asian art session: 400 lots of modestly priced ceramics, furniture and artworks, which include a Ming Dynasty gilt-bronze bodhisattva (est. $3,000-5,000).

On the 18th, Sotheby’s sales continue with traditional and modern paintings from India and Southeast Asia, including a 1960 nude by the painter Akbar Padamsee (est. $200-300,000).

Fans of modern Indian masters should also note that Saffronart is holding an online sale beginning March 10 of less expensive works by Padamsee, Subodh Gupta, Rashid Rana and others.

Bonhams is closing out the week with its session of Japanese art on the 19th — its highlight is Sacred Mountain, 1931 (est. $80-100,000), a hanging scroll depicting Mount Fuji by the Japanese painter Yokoyama Taikan.

Concurrent with the auctions is the 18th edition of the Arts of Pacific Asia Show, from the 14th through the 18th. London’s Knapton & Rasti returns with a rare 15th-century Chinese boat-shaped drinking vessel, expected to sell for $110,000. New York’s Kang Collection is featuring traditional and contemporary work by Korean artists, including Ik-Joong Kang’s Happy Buddha, 2007, for $22,000.

Another don’t-miss stop on the Asia Week circuit is the Japanese Art Dealers Association of New York’s microfair, which takes place from March 15 to 17 in a historic mansion off Fifth Avenue, now home to the Ukrainian Institute. Among the six participants is Sebastian Izzard, who has a Hokusai print for $250,000.

The Upper East Side is flush with Asia-specific gallery shows. JADA participant Erik Thomsen is displaying recently acquired works, including an 18th-century Edo period screen with a six-figure price tag, while a collection of Tang Dynasty vessels is on view at Berwald Oriental Art, where prices range from $25,000 to $200,000. John Eskenazi, of London, has amassed an impressive range of Buddhist and Hindu sculpture at Adam Williams Fine Art — not to be outdone, Throckmorton Fine Art on 57th Street has a rich selection of ancient Buddhist sculpture. And Galerie Christian Deydier of Paris is bringing, among other treasures, a Tang Dynasty lion for $280,000, to Friedman-Vallois.

"Eastern Imports" originally appeared in the March 2009 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's March 2009 Table of Contents.