5 Paintings You need to Watch for at Christie’s HK auction

For Christie’s upcoming Hong Kong auction, a collection of high profile Asian 20th Century and Contemporary works were curated, putting together some of the fastest growing art investments from Southeast Asian artists.

1. Affandi and Grandchildren

Touted to take top billing is an Affandi and Grandchildren, oil on canvas from the Alex Papadimitriou Collection. A family man beloved by his four children and several grand children (who served as his muse), he is considered one of Indonesia’s premier Expressionist painters, passing away at age 83 in 1990. [Bid for Affandi’s 1959 painting]

2. Tenjnkai

Tenjnkai titled and signed ‘Tenjnkai, Kazuo Shiraga’ (on the reverse) oil on canvas. Expected to fetch: $582,982 – $777,310

Last acquired from Giò Arte Gallery, Mestre, Italy by an anonymous buyer, Kazuo Shiraga’s Tenjnkai comes from the free-spirited Gutai school of expression –  the aim to explore and experiment new forms of art through different media while retaining matter. Beginning his innovative body painting style in 1953, Shiraga creates a raadical break from traditional art forms, imbuing it with action and spiritual energy. The Tenjnkai is iconic of Japanese post-war avant-garde movement, invoking striking similarities with American Abstract Expressionist Franz Kline’s work. [bid on Shiraga’s Tenjnkai]

3. Online

“When I’m in front of the computer and people try to get inside my mind, they can’t. For instance, if there is a problem and I’m playing a game – it’s like running away Playing computer games makes me forget about everything, makes me feel free.” – I Nyoman Masriadi in conversation with Professor T.K Sabapathy

One of the most commercially successful Indonesian artists of modern times,  I Nyoman Masriadi made a name for himself with bold, hyper-masculine figures rendered in larger than life, almost comic-style artworks. He held his first solo-exhibition in Singapore in 2008, garnering critical acclaim. His artwork is a powerful statement of the changing needs of a younger generation searching for empowerment through alternate personas in virtual reality environments. [bid for Masriadi’s Online]

4. Map of Bali with the Rose of the Winds

Rare and high sought after, Covarrubias’s Map of Bali with the Rose of the Winds is a Mexican’s glimpse of Bali, one of the world’s most culturally and socially vibrant destines. Visited by anglo-saxon anthropologists since the 1930s, they’re represented by the safari-dressed figures with their cameras. His irrepressible images of Balinese life influenced later generations of artists throughout Southeast Asia.

5. The Penghulu

Cheong Soo Pieng was a Singaporean pioneer of the Nanyang Art style, contributing greatly to the development of Modernism in early 20th century Singapore. His works are recognisable by signature elongated limbs in his subjects. Penghulu – a term used in Malaysia and Indonesia to denote a village headsman, is the subject of this striking painting from Cheong. [bid on Cheong Soo Pieng’s Penghulu]