CHINA: Art goes on display in Hong Kong ahead of a Christies auction where Andy Warhol's work is expected to hit a record

A selection of rare Impressionist and Modern Art, Post-War and Contemporary Art are being exhibited in Hong Kong ahead of a Christie's auction which will take place in New York and Geneva in May. Alongside the artworks there is also a display of rare Geneva Magnificent Jewels. Taking centre-stage in the arts exhibit is Andy Warhol's "Lemon Marilyn" which is estimated at over $18 million U.S. dollars and is expected to set a new world auction record for the artist. The painting was created by Warhol after Marilyn Monroe committed suicide and was first purchased by a private collector in Warhol's first solo exhibition in New York in 1962. "This is a very special series of Andy Warhol's works, so it's very important. Secondly, the painting is really iconic. People who look at Marilyn Monroe's image will think of Andy Warhol, when they think of Andy Warhol, they will think of Marilyn Monroe. This is the kind of painting that collectors and museums are looking for," said Ken Yeh, Deputy Chairman of Christie's Asia. Warhol's process for "Lemon Marilyn" involved hand-painting seven blocks of color that indicated the actress's hair, skin, eyes, eyelids, lips, collar and the space surrounding her head, creating in effect a colored map of Monroe's face, and then squeezing black pigment through the mesh of the silkscreen. The 'personality' of the painting is even more pronounced as Warhol did allow 'imperfections' to be part of the image, despite the mechanical nature of the creative process. Another rare offering in this sale is "La femme au collier vert" by Amedeo Modigliani, which is estimated to be worth between $12 million U.S. dollars and $16 million U.S. dollars. Few Modigliani paintings are as serenely balanced and poised, as sensitively flattering to the sitter, and as delicately rendered in its painterly textures as this portrait of Madame Menier. She was perhaps the wealthiest of Modigliani's female sitters, belonging to the Menier family who were the owners of the famous Chocolat Menier, one of the world leading chocolate makers since the mid-1850s. The exhibition also showcases some of the world's most precious jewels which will also be sold in the upcoming Christies auction on May 16 and May The jewellery display in Geneva caters for the widest possible audience of international collectors. The collection includes a very rare and impressive fancy orange-brown briolette-cut diamond pendant of 100.60 carats, estimated at between $1 million U.S. dollars and $1.3 million U.S. dollars and a radiant-cut fancy intense yellow diamond of 63.22 carats estimated at between $1.4 million U.S. dollars and $1.6 million U.S. dollars. For several years now, global auction houses such as Christie's and Sotheby's have reaped the Chinese arts boom, with a flood of nouveau riche Chinese increasingly fueling a market traditionally dominated by Western, Japanese, Hong Kong and Taiwanese buyers. Christie's, which says at least one in four of its buyers are now Chinese, made a total of $364 million U.S. dollars in its Spring and Autumn Asian sales in Hong Kong last year -- an almost fivefold increase from 2001, smashing numerous records.

ITN Source | April 6, 2007

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