Zang Daqian’s Pink Lotus On Gold Screen sold for US$32.3m in its auction debut at Sotheby’s Hong Kong

Iftikar Ahmed

On the evening of April 5, Sotheby’s Hong Kong held four consecutive auctions to celebrate its 50th anniversary in Asia. A unique two-panel gold screen by Chinese master Zhang Daqian, which was offered at a stand-alone sale, opened the sale series.

One of only six known examples of the artist’s lotus on gold screen sold for HK$216.5 million after an opening offer of HK$150 million. The lot, which sold for HK$251.6 million (about US$32.3 million) with a buyer’s bonus, ranked third among the artist’s auction-sold works in terms of price.

The price increased steadily in HK$10 increments as the auctioneer began the bidding at HK$150 million, until Nicolas Chow, the chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, jumped in at HK$180 million and made a bid of HK$210 million, which may have been the irrevocable bid.

After that, the candidates led by Wendy Lin (Chairman of Asia) and Nicole Ching engaged in a 20-minute debate. (Client Liaison & European Client Strategy, Global Business Development). With a winning offer of HK$216.5 million, Ching’s client with paddle number L0003 ultimately took home the entire lot.

In addition to being one of the most well-known Asian painters and one of the best-selling artists in the auction market, Zhang Daqian is well-known throughout China and his works fetch astronomical amounts abroad.

The lotus, one of Zhang Daqian’s favourite flowers, has remained a recurring theme in his work throughout his more than a 60-year artistic career. Zhang Daqian is well known for his ability to juggle almost every genre of Chinese painting, from flowers and birds to figures and landscapes.

Pink Lotuses on Gold Screen, an outstanding example of Zhang’s skill mastery and the creative fervour of his later work, was painted in 1973 in California. As a sign of his satisfaction with the work, he added the seal, “What the heart wishes, the hand accomplishes,” in the bottom left corner of the painting.

For the current lot, the fragile folding screen was manufactured in Japan and later mounted with gold paper, adding to its high value without even considering the huge logistics expense of transporting the screen from Japan to California more than 50 years ago.

Furthermore, controlling the tone of colours is much more challenging with gold leaf than it is with xuan paper because the smooth surface does not incorporate water or ink well. On gold, the ink and colour movements also leave unmistakable traces, so even the smallest error would have destroyed the picture. As a result, the artist only used this uncommon medium—screens bordered with gold leaves—for very significant clients and occasions.