Cheong Soo Pieng work doubles estimates at Christie’s auction; Sotheby’s shows Georgette Chen orchids
NANYANG artist Cheong Soo Pieng’s Mother And Child (1973) more than doubled its pre-sale estimate, selling for HK$655,200 (S$113,230) at Christie’s spring auction in Hong Kong on Wednesday (May 29). This was on the back of an ongoing survey of the pioneer artist at the National Gallery Singapore.
The oil-on-canvas work featuring Cheong’s trademark elongated and bare-breasted figures, incorporating the geometric gold of Austrian Symbolist Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, far surpassed its expected sale value of between HK$200,000 and HK$300,000.
Another two of the late artist’s works also pushed the upper bounds of their estimates at the same auction held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 24 to June 1. Squirrels (1980) went under the hammer for HK$604,800 and Vision (1972) sold for HK$352,800.
Rival auction house Sotheby’s will be hoping to build on the momentum with three more Cheong paintings on the slate of two live auctions at Conrad Singapore Orchard on Jun 9.
The most expensive is the 67 cm by 87 cm Satay Sellers (1958), estimated at between S$320,000 and S$480,000. Cheong’s record sale remains his abstract triptych Nature’s Inspiration, which went for US$1.47 million at Christie’s Hong Kong in 2023.
Several other heavyweight Singapore artists were also represented at the Christie’s auction, including Georgette Chen and Jane Lee, which both sold well within estimates.
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Chen’s Still Life With Star Fruit (c 1946-50), with pre-sale estimates of HK$5 million to HK$8 million, went for HK$6.6 million. Lee’s typically textured It Is As It Is, Wall Series #1 (2019) changed hands for HK$189,000 (estimated at HK$180,000 to HK$280,000).
All 11 Singapore works, except Chen Wen Hsi’s A Pair Of Red Herons (c 1970s), which clocked pre-sale estimates of HK$500,000 to HK$700,000, found buyers.
Dexter How, Christie’s senior specialist of the 20th and 21st-century art department, said the sale reflects the trend of more collectors from across Asia and around the world appreciating the value of South-east Asian art.
All works by Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai and Filipino artists at the auction successfully changed hands. Thai painter Thawan Duchanee and Filipino pioneer Anita Magsaysay-Ho are among those having a particularly good year.
“More regional artists are now represented by international galleries, and there is more participation in institutional shows such as biennales and museum exhibitions,” How added.
“This increases the visibility of South-east Asian artists in the global art scene. They appeal to the collectors this season because of the rarity, quality of the works, which are at the forefront of documenting societal developments in South-east Asia.”
Works by Nanyang artists have long been staples of the auction market here, and have remained attractive enough for collectors to track trends of fluctuations and value appreciation.
In 2023, Chen broke her own auction record three times in less than a year while also setting a record price of S$2.47 million for a Singapore pioneer artist with her Still Life With Big Durian (1965).
The previous high for a Singapore pioneer artist was S$2.3 million, held by Chen Wen Hsi’s Pasar (Market) (c. 1950s) since 2013.
Hence a work to watch in the upcoming Sotheby’s auction is Chen’s rare oil painting of translucent white orchids, valued at between S$500,000 and S$850,000, though this could be pushed higher by bidders. White Orchids (Phalaenopsis) (1965) is also marking its auction debut.
The best-known female pioneer painter in Singapore is usually known for her more solid still-life works of tropical fruit, and the subject of orchids has appeared only four other times in her paintings in the past three decades.
Other lot highlights are American pop artist Jeff Koons’ Gazing Ball (Fragonard Young Girl Playing With Her Dog) (2014/2015), painted in the rococo manner but embedded with a trademark hand-blown glass ball; the colourful abstractions of Chinese-French painter Chu Teh-Chun; and Magsaysay-Ho’s large-scale pastoral scene Ng Mga Manok (Catching Chickens) (1962).
The works are available for public viewing from Jun 5 to 9. There will also be an accompanying rare whisky auction featuring 190 lots with a total combined estimate of S$1.4 million. THE STRAITS TIMES
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