The Top arrivals in 2015

Fridays are the Best! Every other Friday, Artprice offers you a themed auction ranking. With the arrival of the sixth month and the perspective of the summer break for the market, the Top 10 is focussed on the new artists seen at auction. This selection of the most notable new arrivals at auction since January 2015 reveals that collectors are actively seeking the old masters. It also confirms the Chinese power through the reclamation of their art past and present.

Chinese patriotism

Indeed, five new entries reward Chinese artists, with three sales in China and two for Chinese artists sold in New York. The best new 2015 sales go to Zhang Xun (active in the 14th century), with an ink drawing on silk playing with the contrast between boulders and bamboo resulting in extreme modernity. The work of this artist little-known in the West has proven to be the big surprise of the year in terms of results. Immediately soaring past the million dollar mark, Zhang Xun’s piece Bamboo and rock, signed with several seals, was snatched up for the equivalent of USD 1.2m in Beijing, at China Guardian.
The other chosen ones are the contemporary He Haixi (born in 1958), whose landscape in ink from 2014 was sold for quadruple the estimate (final price: USD 562,000 including fees at Poly International on 24 January 2015); Mao Huijian with a major work of calligraphy from the end of the 17th century at Sotheby’s New York in March (a silk scroll measuring nearly 10 metres estimated at USD 30,000 and ultimately sold for USD 162,500 (including fees); Jiang Youfu, artist born in 1942 who was Li Keran’s student. Even more modern than his teacher, Jiang Youfu focusses on the rebirth of the landscape of which China is especially fond. For his first run at auction, the artist saw his work sold for USD 300,000 including fees at Poly Auction Hong Kong. Work in ink is even more prized, as evidenced by the first known hammer price for a work by Kuncan. Landscape painter in the pure Chinese tradition and monk-painter active from 1657–1674 (or approximately the same period as Shitao), Kuncan created pictures formed from spiritual reflection and was passionate about Chinese history. His Temples Among Autumn Mountains sold for USD 150,000 including fees at Sotheby’s New York. Well-known in China, his works are also in several American museums.
The last Chinese arrival reveals the auction initiation of works by Made in Company in April at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. Of the three works presented under this ‘label’, two were sold, including a large canvas sold for USD 137,000 including fees. The name Made in Company is actually the transformation of artist Xu Zhen – a leader in the Chinese contemporary scene born in 1977 and living in Shanghai – in a cultural production enterprise established in 2009. Made in Company does not only aim to produce artwork but also to instil criticism of the business logic and nature of a contemporary artist today, in China, furthermore.

A return to the old Masters

The sales of old Masters at the start of the year in New York held a few great surprises….the market rediscovered some of the Italian, Mexican and American Masters rarely encountered on the market. The top three results are for Jacopino Da Reggio, Master of Italian illumination active in Bologna at the end of the 13th century (USD 2.8m including fees for his small crucifixion with Saint Francis on a gold background); John Lee Douglas Mathies, sold for USD 845,000 including fees with the portrait of Red Jacket, a major figure in American history from the 18th century; and lastly, Juan Carlos de Medina. The superb Vierge de Guadeloupe de Medina, large oil on canvas completed in 1736 is strong evidence of Latin-American art from the 18th century (Mexico) as well as the cultural and religious mixing of the time. Powerful symbol of miracle production, the virgin of Guadeloupe in her golden mandorla and flowers miraculously appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 on Tepeyac Hill, flirted with USD 300,000 at Christie’s New York.