Christie's Hong Kong will present two upcoming auctions, Modern and Contemporary Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, and Ancient Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, together with the Hung Xiang Hei family's collection of Chinese paintings and calligraphy. This collection includes paintings and calligraphy of the Ming and Qing dynasties, paintings of modern and modern masters and calligraphy couplets, many of which are directly submitted. This series features a few wonderful works to take a sneak peek with you.
Kong Xiangxi (1880-1967), known as Yongzhi and Ziyuan, was born in Taigu County, Shanxi Province, in a family of merchants and Confucians. His ancestral home is Qufu, Shandong, and he is the seventy-fifth grandson of Confucius. In the 1910s, after returning to China from Oberlin College and Yale University in the United States, Confucius established a school in his hometown of Taigu County, Shanxi Province, to cultivate talents and strengthen the country through education. However, his initial teaching career was ended by political turmoil in the late Qing Dynasty. He then entered politics and met Soong Ailing (1889-1973), the eldest sister of the "Three Sisters of the Song Family", and married in 1914. Later, he became a "brother-in-law" with Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek.
Mr. and Mrs. Kong Xiangxi and Song Ailing
Hung Cheung Hei was also known for his business, founding the Cheung Kee Company, engaged in kerosene imports and trading in natural resources, and later held several key positions in the Republic of China government, successively serving as Minister of Industry (1928-1931), Minister of Finance (1933-1944), Governor of the Central Bank (1933-1945), and President of the Executive Yuan (1939-1945). He implemented a number of important economic reforms, and during his tenure as Governor of the Central Bank, he focused on laying the foundation for the development of China's modern financial and industrial systems.
Educated and discerning, the Kongs and their collection of jewelry, jadeite, Chinese paintings, calligraphy and art is an important collection in modern China. In 1947, Kong Gong moved to the United States, and these treasures were passed down by the Kong family.
May 31
Modern and contemporary Chinese painting and calligraphy
Wang Zhen (1867-1938)
"Pine Crane Longevity"
Coloring sprinkled gold paper vertical scroll
99.2 x 41.8 cm.
Estimate: HK$40,000-60,000
Xu Beihong (1895-1953)
"Basho Bamboo Stone"
Ink and color on paper, vertical scroll
152 x 41 cm.
Painted in 1938
Estimate: HK$400,000-600,000
Yu Youren (1879-1964)
Cursive Five Words
Two vertical scrolls on hand-painted ink on silk
每幅：167.5 x 38.7 cm.
Estimate: HK$200,000-300,000
Zhang Shizhao (1881-1973)
Calligraphy - Zhuge Wuhou's Master Table
Ink on paper, vertical scroll
147.2 x 79 cm.
Estimate: HK$80,000-120,000
Ma Yifu (1883-1967)
Seven Words of the Book
Ink on paper, two vertical scrolls
每幅：173 x 36.7 cm.
Estimate: HK$80,000-120,000
Xie Wuliang (1884-1964)
Seven Words of the Book
Two vertical scrolls of ink and wash flowers
每幅：142.8 x 38 cm.
Estimate: HK$80,000-120,000
Wang Zhen (1867-1938)
Seven Words of the Book
Ink on paper, two vertical scrolls
每幅：134.5 x 30.3 cm.
Estimate: HK$40,000-60,000
June 1
Ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy
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Emperor Qianlong
Regular Script Couplet
Two vertical scrolls of ink and yellow silk
每幅：333.5 x 34 cm.
Estimate: HK$600,000-800,000
In the 53rd year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1788), the embankment of Wancheng in Jingzhou collapsed, and floods poured into the ancient city. Legend has it that at that time, the south gate of the ancient city was automatically opened to discharge the flood, so that the flood subsided, and the people of the court and the opposition thought that it was the manifestation of the Guandi Temple on the inside of the south gate, and blessed the common people.
Guandi Temple was founded in the 29th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1396), rebuilt in the 10th year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty (1733), and was given the plaque of "Qiankun Righteousness". Qianlong attached great importance to it, and specially ordered to allocate 16,000 taels of silver to rebuild the Guandi Temple, the plaque of the imperial inscription "Ze'an Nanji", and the long couplet of three meters and three meters of this imperial pen. The upper joint praises Guan Yu for guarding Jingzhou, loyalty, bravery, benevolence and righteousness, and his heart is like the sun and the moon; the lower joint praises Yongzheng for giving the "Qiankun Righteousness" plaque to show the spirit of Guan Gong and protect the people of Jingzhou from floods.
From the thirteenth year of Tongzhi (1874) to the twenty-second year of Guangxu (1896), the Qianlong imperial pen was framed twice by the prefect of Jingzhou, and during the period from the late Guangxu to the second year of Xuantong (1910), it was successively viewed and inscribed by the five ministers of the Qing Dynasty, which shows the sacredness and preciousness of this couplet in the hearts of later generations of ministers.
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Kong Jishu
"Walking Books"
Ink on paper, vertical scroll
129 x 77 cm.
Estimate: HK$60,000-80,000
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Tso
Calligraphy Couplet
Ink on paper, two vertical scrolls
每幅：169 x 40 cm.
Estimate: HK$60,000-80,000
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Liang Tongshu
"Xingshu Dong Qichang's Words"
Ink sprinkled on gold paper vertical scroll
172.5 x 64 cm.
Estimate: HK$50,000-70,000