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China Guardian has announced its auction sales for 2013 reached 6.55 billion yuan, up 26.8% from the previous year.
A total of 25,123 items were sold by the auction house in 2013. “Considering the current market conditions, we are really satisfied with our performance this year,” said Wang Yannan, director and president of China Guardian.
As it celebrates its 20th anniversary, the auction house has seen many exciting results throughout the year, she said. “We are grateful for the support of the collectors. In 2014, China Guardian will do its best to provide the collectors with an even better experience.”
20th anniversary of China Guardian
To celebrate its 20th anniversary, beginning in April China Guardian held a string of events to share its passion and joys with global collectors.
4/11
China Guardian and the Asia Society in New York held a dinner party. Hosted by the Director of the Center on US-China Relations Orville Schell and Vice President of the Asia Society Melissa Chiu, the party brought together 150 American connoisseurs of relics, museology and collectors, as well as an array of Chinese and American entrepreneurs.
5/7-5/8
Celebration dinners were hosted in Beijing to mark the 20th anniversary of China Guardian. About 1,500 guests from around the world were present, including government officials, entrepreneurs, art institution directors, artists and collectors, as well as the media.
9/29
The preface of the classical calligraphy work Chu Shi Song was donated to the Palace Museum, a move initiated by Chen Dongsheng, co-founder of China Guardian as part of China Guardian’s social responsibilities to protect cultural relics.
In the 1920’s, the painting was split in two sections consisting of the calligraphy and a preface by the scholar Zhang Dashan of the Yuan Dynasty, who examined its style, historical background and possible authors.
11/10-11/30
The exhibition Chinese Art Market: Past and Present opened at the National Museum of China. The retrospective exhibition featured a host of high-end items offered by China Guardian from the last 20 years, including Chinese paintings and calligraphy, porcelain and works of art, along with Chinese oil paintings, watches and stamps.
Notably, the classical calligraphy work Chu Shi Song made its debut at the exhibition, attracting fervid attention from over 500,000 visitors.
Best Sellers
2013 was a bonanza year for China Guardian thanks to the rising market attention and consequently its strong performance. The spring auctions brought in 2.6 billion yuan, compared to 2.4 billion yuan from the autumn auctions. The four sessions of quarterly auctions earned another 856 million yuan.
Zhang Daqian’s Lady Red Whisk
Dong Bangda’s Eight Scenery Landscapes
A fine imperial white jade “自強(qiáng)不息”(zi qiang bu xi) seal
The top lots of Chinese paintings and calligraphy were Zhang Daqian’s Lady Red Whisk (71.3 million yuan, spring auctions), Happiness Channel (40.6 million yuan, autumn auctions), and Dong Bangda’s Eight Scenery Landscapes (50.6 million yuan, autumn auctions).
In the porcelain, furniture and artwork category, highlights included a fine imperial white jade “自強(qiáng)不息”(zi qiang bu xi) seal (66.7 million yuan, spring auctions), a blue and white and famille-rose vase (27 million yuan, spring auctions), a shoushan tianhuang stone square seal with a taishi shaoshi knob (11.2 million yuan, autumn auctions), and a zitan hanging panel with precious inlay (10.1 million, autumn auctions).
Chinese oil paintings achieved many record-breaking results. Tajik Bride by Jin Shangyi became the most expensive oil painting ever sold at an auction by China Guardian after it fetched 85.1 million yuan ($13.97 million) on November 16. The winning bid also marked a record price for Jin’s works.
In addition, The Yellow Blooms on the Battlefield Smell Sweeter by Wu Zuoren (1908-1997), sold for 80.5 million yuan in the spring auctions, a record high price for a single work by the modern artist.
Tajik Bride by Jin Shangyi
The Yellow Blooms on the Battlefield Smell Sweeter by Wu Zuoren
Among rare books and manuscripts, the big successes included a manuscript by Gu Yanwu (1613-1682), a prestigious thinker of the late Ming Dynasty. The manuscript sold for 31.6 million yuan at the spring auctions, while at the autumn auctions, Lu Xun’s Letters to Tao Kangde soared to RMB 6.6 million from 1.8 million yuan.
A striking final bids in the sales of stamps and ancient coins went to the four rare "Long Live Complete Victory of the Great Cultural Revolution" stamps (unissued) , which sold for 6.67 million yuan at the spring auctions.
In 2013, China Guardian offered the first sales of celebrity letters and photography, which sold its entire lot. High-selling items included a letter signed by Napoléon Bonaparte to his adopted son Eugene Napoleon in 1806 (3 million yuan, spring auctions), and a letter from Alexandre Dumasfils to Alexandre Dumas, which shows the deep affection that existed between the father and son, selling for 391,000 yuan.
And in the autumn season China Guardian offered about 450 items from the collection of Wang Shixiang, an eminent Chinese art collector. Highlights included a Huanghuali lute table from the Ming Dynasty (5.2 million yuan), and a large huali painting table with solid board top, a footstool and a surface board table (12.7 million yuan).
A letter signed by Napoléon Bonaparte to his adopted son Eugene Napoleon in 1806
The quarterly auctions proved another testing ground for both established and rising artists.
Top items were Qi Baishi’s Landscape by (5.9 million yuan, 34th), Xie Zhiliu’s Pine (3.5 million yuan, 33th), Feng Dazhong’s Tiger (3.7 million yuan, 35th) and Qiu Ying’s Character and Landscape (1.4 million yuan, 35th).
Other best sellers included a purple clay brush pot (3.2 million yuan, 36th), a bronze figure of Zhangxian (1.2 million yuan, 35th) and a huanghuali square corner cabinet (828,000 yuan, 33th)
China Guardian Hong Kong
Since the first auction last October, China Guardian Hong Kong has gained steady growth, as evidenced by the 800 million HK dollars earned from the spring and autumn sales in 2013. Also, it has built up credibility among local collectors and has begun to lay out plans for global expansion.
Chinese paintings and calligraphy remained dominant in its sales. For example, Calligraphy in Regular Script by Song Lizong (1205-1264) sold for a handsome HK$42.6 million, the highest price of this year; Characters of Chinese Mythology from the Qing Dynasty fetched HK$33.4 million, and Cottages in Misty Mountains by Zhang Daqian went for HK$27 million.
In the meantime, China Guardian Hong Kong has been expanding its operation: it offered the first porcelain and artworks auctions, which brought in HK$42.3 million. In addition, it hosted an auction dedicated to Chinese ink paintings, acquiring HK$5.9 million.
For its autumn sale, the Grand View series was introduced to offer local collectors with high-end items. The results were an exciting HK$140 million. Also, China Guardian Hong Kong offered the first sales of Chinese oil paintings and sculptures in the important art market.
Social Responsibility
In addition to the donation of the preface for the classical calligraphy work Chu Shi Song to the National Palace Museum, China Guardian in February donated books to the Flushing Library in New York, USA to help the locals there gain a better understanding of Chinese art and the art market.
Also, an art scholarship named after the maestro Xu Bangda granted 200,000 yuan to 20 honor students of art at Chinese colleges, which will help them further their studies and work on social projects.
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