Liu Guosong's Midnight Sun will highlight Sotheby's sale of contemporary Chinese ink painting on October 5 in Hong Kong.
The large-scale painting, which carries a pre-sale estimate of $155,000-207,000, is the first in a series of Guosong images inspired by the 1969 Moon landings and features his trademark experimental brushwork. The work is spread across seven panels.
Guosong (b. 1935) is widely regarded as one of the foremost practitioners of contemporary ink painting. As one of the co-founders of the Taiwanese Fifth Moon Group, he sought to combine traditional Chinese painting with modern styles such as abstract expressionism.
His work regularly changes hands for six figure sums. His Lunar Landing auctioned for $202,155 at Sotheby's Hong Kong in 2008.
The auction will also feature Purity - Zen by Lu Shoukun (1919-1975) - a well-published and groundbreaking work that incorporates experimental brushwork and Western ideas of conceptualism and abstraction.
 Lu Shoukun's Purity - Zen |
Shoukun was the founder of the New Ink movement and the driving force behind the development of ink painting in 1960s and 70s Hong Kong. He was the originator of an indigenous style that used the thoughtful lines of Chinese calligraphy as its springboard. In 2001, his Mountain View sold for $20,022 at Sotheby's Hong Kong.
Other artists at the sale include Wang Jiqian - whose painting Landscape carries an estimate of $23,300-28,400, and Zheng Weighu's Homage to the Canyon which brings a $12,900 high estimate.
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