LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991) - photo 1
LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991) - photo 2
LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991) - photo 3
LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991) - photo 4
LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991) - photo 5
LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991) - photo 6

LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991)

Lot 1152
02.12.2022 10:00UTC +08:00
Classic
Sold
HKD 18 450 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationHong Kong, Hong Kong
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 862546
Lot 1152 | LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991)
Estimate value
HKD 12 000 000 – 18 000 000
LIN FENGMIAN (1900-1991)

Dunhuang Dancers

Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper

138 x 69.5 cm. (54 3/8 x 27 3/8 in.)

Signed, with one seal of the artist





Provenance

Property of Dino Terese Markowitz, daughter of the artist.

Christie’s New York, Fine Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, 29 May 1991, Lot 198.



Literature

Important Chinese Paintings from the Robert Chang Collection: Works by Seventeen Masters, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Ltd., Hong Kong, June 2002, pp.150-151; pl.184.



Post lot text

This season, Christie’s is honoured to present Bountiful Colours: Important Lin Fengmian Paintings from the Robert Chang Collection. Exceptional in quality, bountiful in colours, and rare in their compositions, these paintings have been in the collection for over three decades and adorned Chang’s home for an equally long time. Opera Figures, Dunhuang Dancers, and Autumn Forest are undoubtedly some of the best examples of the artist’s works that have ever come to the market and represent the pinnacle of the artist’s career in different stages of his life.
Born in Shanghai in the 1920s, Chang opened a department store in his teens before quitting for Hong Kong in 1948 during the Chinese Civil War. Chang arrived in Hong Kong alone, lacking academic qualifications and carrying just a suitcase and $24 in his pocket. With no friends, family or money and without speaking any English or Cantonese, Chang had a can-do attitude and a father who could help kick-start his career from afar. His father, a respected antique dealer in Shanghai, sent his son a steady supply of objects to sell from his stall in Cat Street Market with notes explaining why they were important and how to price them. Growing up surrounded by art and antiques, Chang perceived his father as his teacher and inspiration.
Not long after setting up on Cat Street, Chang became an important broker between Hong Kong and Taiwan. As he started making money and his appreciation of antiques grew, he began to build a collection of his own — particularly in ceramics and Chinese paintings. Chang actively bought at a time when antiques and paintings were relatively “cheap” by today’s standards. Where British and American collectors had dominated the Chinese antiquities market in the first half of the 20th century, Chang — along with peers such as T.Y. Chao, J.M. Hu, K.S. Lo and E.T. Chow — was one of a few Chinese collectors who helped turn Hong Kong into a hub in the second half of the 20th century. By the 1960s, he ran five stores and became the golden boy of the Chinese art and antiquities trade.
When the traditional way of doing business in Hong Kong was mainly private transactions between dealers and collectors, Chang helped usher in a complex new marketplace: in the 1980s, he was instrumental in encouraging the major auction houses to set up in the city. His contribution to the industry lies far beyond his own business.
Chang attributes his success to a willingness to learn. He has never stopped looking to improve his knowledge — whether reading books, talking to other experts, or travelling the world to see art in auctions and museums. This spirit is symptomatic of a passion for his subject and a deep-rooted work ethic. ‘Retirement isn’t on my agenda,’ he says. ‘I’m going to work till the day I drop… As long as there’s something I fancy — and can afford — I’m still determined to acquire it. Even if I were 150 years old, I’d feel compelled to buy it.’
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