Patek Philippe, an important Platinum Perpetual Calendar Split Seconds Chronograph Wristwatch with Leap Year Indication And Moon-Phases  Ref 5004P Circa 2010. Est. HK$1,450,000 — 2,000,000 / US$187,094 - 258,060* (Lot 832). Photo: Sotheby's.

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong presents the Fine Timepieces sale to be held on 29 November 2015 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery. In the spirit of the fast-approaching holiday season, the sale will highlight a fascinating diamond-set Poetic Complication by Van Cleef & Arpels, Pont des Amoureux (pictured above). Featuring a brilliant array of watches and accessories by prestigious makers, the sale offers a great opportunity for connoisseurs and watch lovers to celebrate the festive season in style. 

Sharon Chan, Sotheby’s Head of Watches, Asia, says, “Following the Autumn sale in October, we are excited to present the Fine Timepieces sale at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery during this joyful time of the year. The sale will offer a wide variety of watches for every taste and all pockets, including a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond-set complication which is a romantic celebration of horological excellence, a coveted Patek Philippe minute repeater and F1-inspired chronograph creations by Richard Mille and Audemars Piguet.” 

HIGHLIGHTS: 

Van Cleef & Arpels, a Lady’s Fine and Elegant White Gold And Diamond-Set Double Retrograde Bracelet Watch with Enamel Dial No 591 Pont Des Amoureux Circa 2014. Est. HK$600,000 – 800,000 / US$77,000 – 103,000* (Lot 834). Photo: Sotheby's.

Pont des Amoureux, one of the Poetic Complications created by Van Cleef & Arpels, ultimately defies the limitations of conventional time display. In a perfect marriage of style and function, Van Cleef & Arpels cleverly assigns the task of time display to two whimsical figures, the umbrella-toting lady who indicates the hour and her paramour who reports the minute. The two lovers move slowly towards each other for brief rendezvous at noon and at midnight on the Pont des Amoureux over the River Seine. A gold star glitters in the night sky of Paris, representing the Great Bear constellation and a symbol of luck. 

Accentuating the visual extravagance, the bezel and bracelet of the watch are fully adorned by approximately 11.285 carats of diamonds. The timepiece also features a grisaille enamel dial, created by one of the oldest enamelling techniques that dates back to the 16th century. Employing only black and white enamel, the grisaille technique is mastered by very few enamellists. Numerous layers of enamel are carefully applied to create graduating colours, and each layer has to be fired in a furnace at a high temperature of 740 and 840 degree Celsius. The result is a work of art that catches the light and creates a great sense of depth, lending a poetic aura to the dial. 

Patek Philippe, a very fine and extremely rare Platinum Automatic Minute Repeating Wristwatch with White Enamel Dial Ref 5078P Circa 2007. Est. HK$1.85 – 2.4 million / US$237,000 – 307,000 (Lot 833). Photo: Sotheby's.

Launched in 2005, Patek Philippe Ref. 5078, with its minute repeating slide discreetly hidden in the case flank, is a paragon of understatement. Coveted as the ultimate complication in watchmaking, the minute repeater alone comprises over 100 components. It is also a highly challenging task to create an exquisite resonance from such a small and almost air-tight case. The sound quality of all Patek Philippe minute repeaters are validated personally by the brand’s President, Thierry Stern, before they leave the atelier. The present watch is an example of the original version with a platinum case and white enamel dial with black Roman numerals, which was later replaced by another version with a black lacquered dial. It is believed that only approximately 100 pieces of Ref. 5078 were produced. 

Richard Mille, a fine White Gold Automatic Tonneau-Form Skeleonised Wristwatch with Date RM023 AJ WG Circa 2009. Est. HK$280,000 – 400,000 / US$36,000 – 52,000 (Lot 784). Photo: Sotheby's.

Richard Mille introduced the RM023 in 2009 with a skeletonised dial and new case dimensions (38 x 45 mm). Featuring an asymmetrical layout with roman numerals in appliqué on sapphire, combined with an unusual sculpted Alcryn collared crown, this new design is both advanced and elegant. Inspired by F1 motor racing, this new model unites everything essential to Richard Mille’s philosophy with a sophisticated appearance that suits all occasions. 

Audemars Piguet, a limited edition Pink Gold Automatic Chronograph Wristwatch with Date and Registers Case H84099 No 118/500 Royal Oak Offshore Michael Schumacher Circa 2012. Est. HK$240,000 — 320,000 / US$30,967 - 41,290 (Lot 777). Photo: Sotheby's.

As homage to Schumacher's legendary motor racing career, the Royal Oak Offshore Michael Schumacher was launched as Schumacher announced his retirement in 2012. The seven stars in red and blue on the dial, representing his seven years of being the world champion, as well as his name and signature on the black automatic rotor at the back are the subtle tributes to the phenomenal driver himself. The use of material is particularly innovative; the bezel of the watch is made of cermet, a composite material composed of ceramic and metallic materials, which has better deformation and shock resistance properties than ceramic and seven times the shock resistance than steel. 

Produced in limited edition, this creation of the timepiece is no doubt a perfect demonstration of Audemars Piguet's innovation and Schumacher's meticulousness. 

CHARITY LOT 

IWC Schaffhausen, a Customized Steel Automatic Split-Second Chronograph Wristwatch with Stopwatch Function, Date and Small Hacking Seconds, Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition Le Petit Prince, made in 2015 Suggested Retail. Price: HK$100,000 / US$12,820 (Lot 780). Photo: Sotheby's.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong is working with IWC Schaffhausen to offer the customised Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph Edition ‘Le Petit Prince’. All the proceeds will benefit the Antoine de Saint Exupéry Foundation which decided to support the Ebenezer School in Hong Kong. 

Pair of 46.62 and 44.27 kt Peridot with 9.66 and 8.17 kt natural Burma untreated Red Ppinel and Diamond Earrings. Estimate HK$580,000 - 780,000 (US$74,400 - 100,000). Photo Tiancheng International

Each suspending a pear-shaped peridot weighing 46.62 and 44.27 carats respectively, to the surmount set with an oval red spinels weighing 9.66 and 8.17 carats respectively, linked by a cushion-shaped diamond weighing 0.42 and 0.41 carat respectively, mounted in 18 karat pink gold.

Accompaneid by GIA report numbered 1203668418, dated 27 August 2015, stating that the 46.62 and 44.27 carat peridots are Yellowish Green colour; 
LOTUS report numbered 2899-7908, dated 17 August 2015, stating that the 9.66 and 8.17 carat spinels are natural, Red colour, of intense saturation and deep tone, of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating or treatment; 
GIA reports numbered 1195716121 and 7203073673, dated 31 March and 21 May 2015 respectively, stating that the 0.42 and 0.41 carat diamond are E colour, Internally Flawless and VVS1 clarity respectively, Excellent Polish.

Tiancheng International. HONG KONG AUTUMN AUCTION, Jewellery and Jadeite

19.88 kt natural Burma untreated Red Spinel and Diamond ring. Estimate HK$180,000 - 280,000 (US$23,000 - 36,000). Photo Tiancheng International

Centring on a cushion-shaped red spinel weighing 19.88 carats, within a surround decorated with oval, baguette and brilliant-cut diamonds extending to the shoulders, mounted in 18 karat white gold. Ring size: 6½

Accompanied by LOTUS report numbered 7040-6714, dated 30 June 2015, stating that the 19.88 carat spinel is natural, Red colour, of intense saturation and deep tone, of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating or treatment.

Tiancheng International. HONG KONG AUTUMN AUCTION, Jewellery and Jadeite

Gyponana octolineata

Diedrocephala sp.

iMacunolla ventralis

Erythrogonia laudata

Tylozygus fasciatus

Graphocephala sp. (coccinea green form)

Graphocephala coccinea

Graphocephala distanti

Graphocephala distanti

Graphocephala edwardsi

Graphocephala edwardsi

Graphocephala confluens

Cultured pearls, rubies, black diamonds and diamond necklace and matching ring, Mikimoto. Estimate HK$120,000 - 250,000 (US$15,400 - 32,000). Photo Tiancheng International

The necklace composed of double-stranded greyish cultured pearls measuring approximately 11.98 to 9.58mm, highlighted by circular-cut rubies, black sapphires and brilliant-cut diamonds together weighing approximately 4.90, 16.65 and 4.85 carats respectively, length approximately 388mm; the ring centring on a greyish coloured with pink hue cultured pearl measuring approximately 13.97mm, flanked by marquise-, pear-shaped and brilliant-cut diamonds together weighing approximately 2.95 carats, mounted in platinum and 18 karat white gold, signed. Accompanied with an original signed box. Ring size: 4¾ (2) 

The King of Pearls
Born in 1858 in the town of Toba on Japan’s Shima Peninsula, Kokichi Mikimoto grew a lifelong fondness in pearl. Natural pearls were harvested from akoya pearl oysters at the time, resulting of depletion by overharvesting. He had pledged himself to protect and propagate stocks of akoya pearl oysters and investigate the possibility of producing cultured pearls. After 10 years of researches, he overcame all the difficulties to become the first in the world to successfully culture a semi-spherical pearl in Ojima Island (now known as Mikimoto Pearl Island) near Toba in 1893. This marked the first time that a pearl was produced from a pearl oyster due to human intervention. To glorify Kokichi Mikimoto’s dedication and achievement to the development of cultured pearls, he was respected as the King of Pearls.
In 1899, Japan’s first pearl specialty boutique, the MIKIMOTO Pearl Store was opened in Ginza, Tokyo. In 1913, the first overseas MIKIMOTO Pearl Store opened in London. Cultured pearls were being introduced to the world of jewellery and MIKIMOTO has become synonymous with high-quality cultured pearls. Nowadays, MIKIMOTO is one of the world’s leading fine jewellers, with business reaching worldwide to New York, London, Paris, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Tiancheng International. HONG KONG AUTUMN AUCTION, Jewellery and Jadeite

Conch pearl and diamond necklace, Mikimoto. Estimate HK$200,000 - 400,000 (US$25,600 - 51,200). Photo Tiancheng International

The necklace composed of thirty-five conch pearls measuring approximately 11.46 x 7.10 x 6.74 to 6.90 x 5.02 x 4.10mm, each linked by marquise-shaped and brilliant-cut diamonds together weighing approximately 6.45 carats, mounted in 18 karat yellow gold, signed, length approximately 375mm. 

Tiancheng International. HONG KONG AUTUMN AUCTION, Jewellery and Jadeite

Yellow diamond with diamond hairclip , Mikimoto. Estimate HK$60,000 - 100,000 (US$7,700 - 12,800). Photo Tiancheng International

The hairclip set with eleven marquise-shaped yellow diamonds together weighing approximately 1.85 carats, embellished with brilliant-cut diamonds together weighing approximately 1.95 carats, mounted in 18 karat yellow and white gold, signed. 

Tiancheng International. HONG KONG AUTUMN AUCTION, Jewellery and Jadeite

Cultured pearls, coral, onyx and diamond necklace, Mikimoto. Estimate HK$50,000 - 100,000 (US$6,400 - 12,800). Photo Tiancheng International

The necklace composed of numerous coral, cultured pearl and onyx beads, to the front inset with corals and onyx with brilliant-cut diamonds, completed by a similarly-set clasp, the diamonds together weighing approximately 1.50 carats, mounted in 18 karat white gold, signed, length approximately 420mm.

Coral beads measuring approximately 9.69 to 9.04mm; onyx beads approximately 9.97 to 9.38mm; cultured pearl beads approximately 8.91 to 8.49mm. 

Tiancheng International. HONG KONG AUTUMN AUCTION, Jewellery and Jadeite

LONDON.- A wonderfully assured Portrait of a Gentleman by the Dutch Golden Age artist Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck is one of the leading lots at Bonhams Old Master Paintings sale in London on Wednesday 9 December. It is estimated at £120,000-180,000. 

Verspronck (1660-1662) was born in Haarlem and trained as a portrait painter under his father although it seems highly likely that he may also have been a pupil of Frans Hals. The informal poses and natural expressions so characteristic of Hals’s style are certainly evident in Verspronck’s work too. 

In 1632 he joined the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke (the patron saint of artists) and his career began to flourish. From the limited number of his sitters who have been identified it is clear that Verspronck’s clientele was largely locally based. His major commission came in 1642 when he beat Hals in a competition to paint the group portrait, The Regentesses of the Heilige Geesthuis, one of Haarlem’s wealthiest charities. 

Portrait of a Gentleman was probably painted around 1645 and shows Verspronck at the height of his powers demonstrating the mastery of detail for which his work was particularly prized. Bonhams Director of Old Masters, Andrew McKenzie, said, “Although Verspronck borrowed the pose of his figures from Hals, the composition was entirely his own. He often positioned the sitters to the left or right side of the canvas in order to give free rein to the play of light in the background. The subtle effects he achieved and the precision of his brush work have made his works critically admired and increasingly sought after by collectors."

Provenance: The Collection of Jos. Monchen, The Hague, by whom offered
Sale, Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, 20 April 1907, lot 180
The Collection of August Janssen, Amsterdam
With Kunsthandel J. Goudstikker, Amsterdam (cat. XIV, 1919-20, no. 81)
With Kunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdam, 1956-7, where purchased by the present owners' late father

Literature: R.E.O Ekkart, Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck, Haarlem, 1979, p. 102, cat. no. 62, ill. p. 176

Johannes Cornelisz. Verspronck (Haarlem circa 1606-1662), Portrait of a gentleman, three-quarter-length, in black costume with a white lace collar and a black hat, oil on canvas, detail. Estimate £120,000-180,000. Photo: Bonhams.

A man of high standards and unmatched generosity, Mr. Dayton was a true philanthropist.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- The Trustees of the Minneapolis Institute of Art sadly announced today the passing of its Life Trustee, of great distinction, Bruce B. Dayton. Mr. Dayton, a Trustee of 73 years, served on the museum’s board since 1942, when he was recruited by Chinese art collector Alfred F. Pillsbury. Mr. Dayton’s strong vision, business acumen, high aesthetic standards, knowledge and love of art, and commitment to public service have guided and benefited the museum for decades. Many of his some 2,000 gifts of art to the museum can be viewed throughout the galleries. 

A man of high standards and unmatched generosity, Mr. Dayton was a true philanthropist. His philosophy was firmly rooted in his great admiration for his grandfather, George Draper Dayton (1857–1938), an exceptional businessman and philanthropist in his own right. Like his grandfather, Mr. Dayton was a man with a broad range of interests, experience, and talent, which, in combination with his analytical mind and strong character, made him an exceptional community leader. 

“This is a very sad day indeed,” said Kaywin Feldman, Duncan and Nivin MacMillan Director and President of Mia. “Bruce’s generosity and depth of commitment to our museum are unparalleled. He has given Mia so much throughout his life, through his active board participation, philanthropic support, connoisseurship, and remarkable insight. He helped shape us to be one of the greatest art museums in the country. Our gratitude to him is boundless. I will miss him very much.” 

Mia Board Chair Maurice Blanks added, “Mr. Dayton’s great legacy is unmatched. He has had a tremendous impact on all of us and is an inspiration in so many ways to the next generation of community leaders, business owners, and others who knew him. Bruce’s great vision, involvement, and investment with the museum has positioned us well for the next one-hundred years.” 

As a collector, from the 1940s to the early 1990s, Mr. Dayton was primarily interested in European and American paintings. Major gifts of artworks to Mia during this time include Edouard Manet’s The Smoker (1866); Wassily Kandinsky’s Study for Improvisation V (1910); Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue (1922); and Frank Stella’s Tahkt-I-Sulayman, Variation II (1969). Inspired by the passion of his wife, Ruth, for Asian philosophy, Mr. Dayton became interested in the early 1990s in building Mia’s Chinese collection. At the start of perhaps the most buoyant Chinese art market of the last century, he formed a collecting partnership with Mia under the guidance of Robert Jacobsen, PhD, Mia’s Chair of Asian Art at that time. Working together, they added more than 800 superb works of Chinese art, hardwood furniture, and architecture to 14 galleries. Today, the installation has on view more than 1,400 works and occupies 20,000 square feet of gallery space, comprising one of the largest displays of Chinese art in the United States. 

Mr. Dayton willingly considered virtually all classical traditions of Chinese art, all periods of Chinese art history, and each of China’s formative philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. As the museum became increasingly recognized for its classical hardwood furniture and original historic rooms, he quietly purchased for the museum literati objects and more than 300 classical paintings and calligraphies with an emphasis on the literati tradition. Concurrently, he built an excellent group of early lacquer objects, procured significant examples of Buddhist painting and sculpture, created a gallery for Tibetan art, amassed several hundred fine early ceramics, collected a group of rare illustrated books and sutras, and added spectacular ancient bronzes to the galleries. 

Mr. Dayton gave funds to Mia without hesitation for the benefit of the art-going public. The works were selected for their beauty and rarity, and with the educational mission of the museum in mind. Highlights from the collection include a Ming dynasty Reception Hall and a Qing dynasty Scholar’s Studio, both fully furnished with period furniture; a Qing dynasty Imperial Throne; a magnificent bronze Celestial Horse from the Eastern Han dynasty, a gilt bronze Pair of Flying Dragons from the Tang dynasty; a southern Sung dynasty wood sculpture of the Bodhisattva Guanyin; and an early Ming dynasty Dragon and Phoenix Vase. 

The Wu Family Reception Hall, Ming dynasty, early 17th century. Wood, ceramic, tile, plaster, lacquer, stone, 216 x 483 x 288 in. (548.64 x 1226.82 x 731.52 cm) (outer exterior wall dimension). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton 98.61.1 © 2015 All Rights Reserved. Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Studio of Gratifying Discourse, Qing dynasty, 1797. Wood, ceramic tile stone, lacquer, tai-hu rocks, 216 x 226 x 528 in. (548.64 x 574.04 x 1341.12 cm). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton 98.61.2 © 2015 All Rights Reserved. Minneapolis Institute of Art

Imperial Throne, Qing dynasty, 18th century. Polychrome lacquer over a softwood frame, 49 1/4 x 64 1/2 x 41 3/4 in. (125.1 x 163.83 x 106.05 cm). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton (93.32a-d) © 2015 All Rights Reserved. Minneapolis Institute of Art

Prancing Horse, Eastern Han dynasty, 1st-3rd century. Earthenware with traces of pigment, 42 x 36 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (106.68 x 92.71 x 29.21 cm). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton (98.19) © 2015 All Rights Reserved. Minneapolis Institute of Art

The Bodhisattva Guanyin, southern Song dynasty, late 11th-early 12th century. Wood, gesso, and mineral pigments, and gold. Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton (98.62a-h) © 2015 All Rights Reserved. Minneapolis Institute of Art

Dragon and Phoenix Vase (Meiping), Ming dynasty, c. 1430. Porcelain with incised and cobalt blue painted décor under a clear glaze, 18 x 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (45.72 x 29.21 x 29.21 cm). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton (2002.126.1) © 2015 All Rights Reserved. Minneapolis Institute of Art

Mr. Dayton also supported other areas of Mia’s collections. He provided the lead gifts for major acquisitions, including a first-century BCE Roman statue interpreting Doryphoros by Polykleitos; Claude Lorrain’s Pastoral Landscape (1638); and Claude Monet’s Grainstack, Sun in the Mist (1891). He donated or provided funds for the purchase of more than 300 drawings, prints, and artist’s books by major figures such as Pierre Bonnard, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Oskar Kokoschka, Sol Le Witt, Alice Neel, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Larry Rivers. Highlights include Edgar Degas’s Beside the Sea (1869), Emile Nolde’s Heavy Seas at Sunset (c. 1930), Piet Mondrian’s Chrysanthemum (1900), Edouard Manet’s The Races (c. 1869), Henri Toulouse-Lautrec’s The Englishman at the Moulin Rouge (1892), Jasper Johns’s Ale Cans (1964), Bonnard’s Parallèlement (1900), Kandinsky’s Klänge (1913), and Matisse’s Jazz (1948). 

Mr. Dayton’s extraordinary support of Mia went beyond the gift of artworks. He created endowments, today worth more than $27.5 million, to support museum operations and galleries. He helped purchase land for museum parking facilities; sponsored exhibitions of Chinese art; funded academic conferences; helped fund permanent-collection catalogues; and contributed to the museum’s 2006 $100 million Bring Art to Life capital campaign. In this most recent capital campaign, a number of museum supporters joined together with contributions in his honor to create the Friends of Bruce Dayton Fund to support future acquisitions for the collection. Today the fund is valued at more than $2 million. Most recently, Mr. and Mrs. Dayton led the fundraising campaign to help Mia acquire Eros Bendato by Igor Mitoraj to mark the museum’s 100th Birthday Year. 

While Mr. Dayton has been most closely associated with Mia, his range of philanthropic activity was incredibly broad. Within the last few years alone, he made major gifts to the capital campaigns of the Walker Art Center, the Minneapolis Public Library, the Guthrie Theater, the Studio Arts Building at the University of Minnesota, Macalester College in Saint Paul, and the Yale University Art Gallery. Mr. Dayton also funded the restoration of a sixteenth-century, 34-room historic house in Anhui province, China, which is now a public museum; underwrote major publications on Chinese architecture, calligraphy, and sculpture for Yale University Press; donated 110 acres to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; and contributed to the construction of the new Shanghai Art Museum.

 Anthony van Dyck, Sketch of one of The Magistrates of Brussels, private collection, Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, © KIK-IRPA Brussel.

ANTWERP.- The acquisitions policy employed by the Rubens House continues to turn up surprises, and after the announcement of the Clara Serena portrait, the museum has now brought a newly discovered Van Dyck to Antwerp. The work is a study for a portrait that was revealed to be an original Van Dyck during a 2013 episode of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. That way the Rubens House has brought the most valuable discovery of this television show to Antwerp on permanent loan. Visitors can see the painting as of today. 

In 2013 nothing less than a miracle happened to Jamie MacLeod, a priest from Derbyshire, UK. A painting that he had bought for 500 euros was unveiled as a ‘genuine’ Anthony Van Dyck on the popular TV programme Antiques Roadshow. After being restored and examined by a well-known Van Dyck expert, the work was estimated to be worth 500,000 euros, making it the most valuable discovery ever on the long-running programme. The painting went to a private collector and MacLeod is using the proceeds to restore his church’s bells. In the next chapter of the story, what started off as a coincidental meeting between the present owner and the director of the Rubens House ended with the long-term loan of the painting. This 400 year old brand new discovery can be seen in the Rubens House as of 18 November. 

‘What the Rubens House is presently doing is phenomenal,’ said Alderman Philip Heylen. ‘The acquisitions policy pursued by the institution in recent years has convinced both Belgian and foreign collectors to share their works with the general public for considerable periods of time. And the fact that the museum has managed to bring spectacular discoveries – ones that have generated an international media frenzy – to Antwerp has demonstrated their inventive policy and expertise to us all. Moreover, this is an artwork that highlights the extraordinary pictorial qualities of Rubens’ most gifted pupil in just a few brush strokes. It is a must-see for every visitor to the city.’ 

The artwork 
The portrait is a preparatory study for a life-size painting featuring seven Brussels aldermen (known as the Magistrates of Brussels) and depicts one of them, a Brussels magistrate. The group portrait was destroyed during the French bombardment of Brussels in 1695 and all that is left is a sketch of the group portrait and four preparatory studies of the aldermen’s heads. The portrait that can be seen in the Rubens House is one of the four studies, with two others in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the final one in a private collection. 

The restoration 
The sketch was turned into a full portrait a good while after the death of Van Dyck, as it was considered to be more sellable as a completed work. The later additions were removed during restoration and the somewhat boring portrait once again became a surprising and animated preparatory study. The difference between the two versions is nothing short of spectacular, with the sketch demonstrating how Van Dyck could characterise a personality with just a few skilled brush strokes. 

Van Dyck and New York 
The renowned Frick Collection in New York City is planning a comprehensive exhibition focussing on Anthony Van Dyck for the spring of 2016 and the Rubens House is proud to contribute two works to the prestigious exhibition. One of the works to be featured is the self-portrait that is part of the Rubens House permanent collection. Until recently the painting was attributed to Rubens, but MA-XRF scanning has shown that it is actually a self-portrait. The second is the recently discovered preparatory study of the head of a Brussels alderman. Both the paintings can be viewed in the Rubens House until 10 February 2016, after which they will go to New York where they will be a part of the Van Dyck exhibition until mid-June of that year. When the exhibition closes they will return to the Rubens House in Antwerp. 

Rubens House loans continue to amaze 
It has become impossible for many museums to buy works by major names such as Van Dyck and Rubens. To counter this, the Rubens House has been loaning relevant works from private and public collections since 2007 in order to expose visitors to as much work as possible by Rubens and his talented peers. By using its limited budget in a creative manner, the museum has managed to continuously indulge its visitors. These loans are often preceded by years of negotiations, but the fact that private collectors opt for the Rubens House underscores the expertise and the prestige of the institution.

The portrait is a preparatory study for a life-size painting featuring seven Brussels aldermen (known as the Magistrates of Brussels) and depicts one of them, a Brussels magistrate.

Gerhart Frankl, Vienna, April 1936 © Private archive

VIENNA.- The Belvedere is devoting the thirteenth Masterpieces in Focus exhibition to the Viennese artist Gerhart Frankl (1901–1965), who, like his idol Paul Cézanne, sought to create something of lasting significance. In 1925 Frankl wrote to his future wife: “I don’t want to be a ‘famous’ man. […] But I do want to be a truly great person. Totally and utterly responsible. That is essential. […] I don’t want to be a firework, but at every moment to have a clear conscience.” Although largely self-taught – only studying with Anton Kolig in Nötsch during the summers from 1920 to 1922 – he produced a tremendously varied and fascinating oeuvre, with many shifts in style and subject matter. His immaterial representations of the Alps from his late career are some of the highlights in his art. From 18 November 2015 to 3 April 2016 the exhibition Gerhart Frankl - Restless at the Upper Belvedere will focus on the evolution of his landscapes that culminated in his form-dissolving Mountain Fantasies. The show also explores the artist’s close ties with the Belvedere. On returning from exile in London, Frankl and his wife lived in the Lower Belvedere from 1947 and he also worked in the museum’s conservation studios. The artist’s exploration of the Baroque setting surrounding the two palaces and the view over Vienna found expression in a series he created between 1947 and 1949. 

“The special occasion behind this exhibition is the gift of a large group of ninety-two works by Gerhart Frankl from the Peter Parzer collection to the Belvedere. This bequest from 2012 is the greatest addition to the collection in the history of the Second Republic to date, especially as the two oil paintings by Gustav Klimt Sunflower (1907) and Family (1909/10) are an invaluable enrichment to the Belvedere’s holdings,” Director of the Belvedere and 21er Haus Agnes Husslein-Arco expresses her gratitude to the Viennese art dealer who died in 2010. 

Gerhart Frankl, overlooking Vienna from Belvedere, 1948 © Belvedere, Vienna - Legat Peter Parzer, Vienna

Even as a student Peter Parzer was interested in the work of Gerhart Frankl, an artist who never opted for the path of least resistance and was his own harshest critic. In addition to Cézanne, Old Masters such as Titian and Rubens all loomed large in Frankl’s art. Yet his work also contains Expressionist and Cubist elements and both abstract and naturalistic studies. Approximately two-thirds of his oeuvre comprises works on paper, one of Frankl’s favourite mediums that provided him with a platform for free expression. Frankl developed his own mixed media of pastels, gouache and sometimes charcoal to capture his personal experiences in the mountains. “The essentially unrepresentable nature of the Alps’ monumentality, mass, sublimity, and vastness as well as the light in the mountains, which tested the limits of painting, were resolved by Frankl through dispensing with the representational to create imagery that dissolved form and was non-figurative, almost transcendental,” is how curator Kerstin Jesse describes Frankl’s striking depictions of the mountains.  

Landscapes and views of the Alps appear in Frankl’s early work and form an almost consistent thread through his oeuvre. With their distance from daily life, detachment from space and time, and sense of freedom, the mountains were a magical paradise in the artist’s eyes. A passionate motorcyclist and alpinist, he toured the Dolomites on his BMW with his future wife Christine Büringer, who was the niece of the painter Sebastian Isepp from the Nötsch Circle. From 1949, they would set out from London on a Triumph Contessa. This sense of freedom on two wheels, zooming along winding Alpine roads surrounded by magnificent and sublime nature shines through especially in his late images of mountains. 

Gerhart Frankl, Silvretta, 1928 © Belvedere, Vienna - Legat Peter Parzer, Vienna

Frankl and the Belvedere – An interlude in Vienna 
The couple were forced to flee to London in July 1938 because of Gerhart Frankl’s Jewish roots. After nine years of deprivation and uncertainty, they returned to Vienna in 1947. This was by no means easy, as Frankl was tormented by the loss of his parents. “You will understand that I still cannot say anything about the horrors that occurred that I was unable to prevent,” he wrote in January 1946 to the art historian Fritz Novotny (provisional director of the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere from 1945 to 1947). 

On returning to Vienna, they first had to stay with their friend Charles W. Baty as their own apartment had been unlawfully rented out. This was followed by weeks and months of traipsing from one official to the next and all the bureaucratic bullying this entailed as well as viewing a succession of apartments they ultimately could not afford to rent. Finally Fritz Novotny and Karl Garzarolli-Thurnlackh, Director of the Österreichische Galerie from 1947 to 1959, intervened and found accommodation for the Frankls in the Lower Belvedere for one year. The Belvedere therefore came to assume great significance for the artist – both in terms of his new job as conservator at the Österreichische Galerie and also as a major source of inspiration in his art. Frankl was determined to become reestablished in Vienna again and rekindled his social network both in his professional and personal life. He held lectures, applied for the post of professor at the academy, became a member of the advisory or exchange commission at the Österreichische Galerie and acted as artistic director of the Fourth International Summer Seminar of the Austrian College Society in Alpbach in 1948. In spite of his busy schedule and all the bureaucratic hurdles to contend with, Frankl was very prolific during these sixteen months in Vienna. His Belvedere series in particular stands out on account of its diversity in form and style. This Baroque setting fired Frankl’s imagination and inspired an intensive creative process. The series comprises six canvases and over forty studies, drawings, and watercolours with prominent emphasis given to the view over Vienna and sculptural subjects. In this series Frankl also made an intensive study of the cubist and constructivist elements culminating in his painting Vienna III. 

Christine Frankl in the sidecar of BMW, Sella, late 1920s © Private archive

Gerhart Frankl’s position within the spectrum of modernism 
Positioning Gerhart Frankl’s oeuvre, so varied in both style and subject matter, within the history of modernism raises questions that lead beyond traditional art categories and painter roles. Both an artist and an art historian, Frankl was impressed neither by the art worlds in Austria and Britain nor the artists who conformed to the mainstream. For him, authenticity and permanence were paramount. 

From today’s perspective, Frankl’s work was pioneering in many disciplines. Although in his own art he did not fall in line with modern trends, he analysed them and aspired to combine tradition and modernism in his work. He made an intensive study of art theory, gave lectures at the universities of Vienna, London and Cambridge, and at adult education centres. Based on the wide scope of his artistic, technical, psychological and cultural-historical studies, and his “belated” interest in the Old Masters, he questioned the current avant-garde ideal of returning art to the praxis of life. This ideal had evolved since 1900 as a reaction to the alienation and specialization brought about by the industrial age. Exploring what painting could and should achieve in the modern world was one of the main issues for Frankl. With its conservative art market, few painters of his generation had dared to grapple with this fundamental question in Austria. Frankl became a respected artist with his work occupying a space somewhere between the Nötsch painters, Oskar Kokoschka, Herbert Boeckl, Fauvism and an independent response to Cézanne. Instrumental in answering his question were his war experiences, frequent travels, and a close circle of friends including the art historians Klaus Demus, Fritz Novotny, Kenneth Clark, and Ernst Gombrich.

Gerhart Frankl, Mountain Fantasy V - Western Alps, 1960 © Belvedere, Vienna - Legat Peter Parzer, Vienna

Frankl never aimed to use his painting to promote a certain categorical way of thinking, or to create a religious sphere, as can be found in the work of Max Weiler. Frankl belonged to a positivist, sceptical generation. He represented the elements that move the viewer in a pared down and natural way. “He did not dream of a better person but by means of a highly developed style of painting conveyed what the existing person can see,” stated the art theorist Matthias Boeckl. He tackled the subject of the Holocaust and its unrepresentable horrors in a similar way. Frankl, whose parents died in concentration camps, again chose a non-speculative translation using genuinely artistic means. It is only in hindsight, with today’s knowledge, that we can understand this essentially modern method with all its origins and effects and give these achievements due recognition. 

By presenting Gerhart Frankl’s accomplishments as a painter, art historian, and theorist in the show and in the catalogue essay by Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer, this exhibition represents a long-overdue tribute to this artist.

Exhibition view "Gerhart Frankl - Born to Run". Photo: Eva Würdinger, © Belvedere, Vienna

Exhibition view "Gerhart Frankl - Born to Run". Photo: Eva Würdinger, © Belvedere, Vienna 

Exhibition view "Gerhart Frankl - Born to Run". Photo: Eva Würdinger, © Belvedere, Vienna

Exhibition view "Gerhart Frankl - Born to Run". Photo: Eva Würdinger, © Belvedere, Vienna

Impressive highly translucent emerald green jadeite 'Laughing Buddha' pendant. Estimate HK$16,000,000 - 20,000,000 (US$2,050,000 - 2,560,000). Photo Tiancheng International

The pendant set with a highly translucent jadeite of emerald green colour, carved as a 'laughing Buddha', surmounted by an 18 karat gold hoop, accompanied by two adjustable black cords decorated with brilliant-cut diamonds.

Laughing Buddha measuring approximately 44.50 x 49.89 x 12.98mm.

Accompanied by Hong Kong Jade & Stone Laboratory report numbered KJ91547, dated 9 October 2015, stating that the jadeite is natural, known in the trade as 'A Jade'.

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Salvador Dalí, Eggs on the Plate without the Plate (Oeufs sur le Plat sans le Plat),1932. Oil on canvas, 23 3/4 × 16 1/2 in. (60.3 × 41.9 cm). Collection of the Salvador Dali Museum, Inc. St. Petersburg, Florida. © 2015 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

HOUSTON, TX.- Visitors to the Menil Collection have a rare opportunity this fall to experience works from the museum’s Surrealist collection in dialogue with one of the movement’s major figures – Salvador Dalí. On loan from the Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, the artist’s 1932 painting, Eggs on the Plate Without the Plate, greets viewers on a wall by itself as they enter the first of three galleries reinstalled for this special exhibition. Curated by Assistant Curator Clare Elliott and consisting of some 30 works by 12 artists, The Secret of the Hanging Egg: Salvador Dalí at the Menil opened on November 5, 2015 and will remain on view through June 19 of next year. 

“The generosity of the Dalí Museum allows us not only to bring this exceptional painting to Houston audiences, but also to create a new framework through which to view the Menil’s extensive Surrealist collection,” said Clare Elliott, assistant curator. 

With a selection of works by artists such as Victor Brauner, Max Ernst, and René Magritte, the museum enjoys a reputation for having an exceptional representation of Surrealist art – the twentieth-century avant-garde movement in art and literature that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind. Visitors, however, are often surprised to learn that the museum has no paintings by Dalí, only Gangsterism and Goofy Visions of New York – a rarely seen 1935 drawing that also appears in the show. 

Though indelibly linked to Surrealism, Dalí was both accepted and later rejected by the movement’s leader, André Breton (whose death mask is on view in an adjacent gallery). 

With its eerie landscape and an even more disquieting still life that includes one of Dalí’s most familiar motifs, a watch that appears to be melting, Eggs on a Plate Without the Plate engages in conversation with other works that include small, egg-like painted rocks by Brauner and Joan Miró, as well as enigmatic landscapes by Yves Tanguy and Joseph Cornell. A painting attributed to Giuseppe Arcimboldo, a sixteenth-century Italian painter that Dalí admired, provides an antecedent to the artist’s surreal imaginings. 

Dalí’s fascination with food is echoed in simulacrums of cheese made by his contemporary Magritte and by the contemporary artist Robert Gober. Works by the latter, as well as a new work made especially for the exhibition by Houston-based artist David McGee, attest to the continuation of the Surrealist tradition both in present-day artistic practices and in the Menil’s holdings. Steve Wolfe, the subject of a 2010 Menil exhibition, also appears in the reconfigured galleries. On view are examples of Dalí’s many collaborations with Surrealists in Paris in the 1930s in the form of a selection of rare publications from the Menil’s library, including Violette Nozières (1933) and a 1937 portfolio of twenty-one Surrealist postcards. As the centerpiece of this exhibition, the Dalí painting strongly resonates with a collection that emphasizes the power of the evocative image. 

Surrealism at the Menil 
With a collection of more than 300 Surrealist paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, the museum can only display a fraction of its holdings at any one time, and this exhibition highlights the practice of quietly rotating works throughout the permanent galleries. Next door to Dali, visitors will find The Night, Its Volume and What is Dangerous for It, 1934, a recently acquired painting by Meret Oppenheim, one of the movement’s pioneering female artists, as well as Man Ray’s erotic portrait of the artist.

Max Ernst, Marlene, 1940-1941. Oil on canvas, 9 3/8 × 7 3/4 in. (23.8 × 19.7 cm). The Menil Collection, Houston. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Important pair of 11.10 and 10.41 carats Burmese Mogok “Pigeon’s Blood” ruby and diamond pendent earrings. Estimate HK$7,800,000 - 12,000,000 (US$1,000,000 - 1,540,000). Photo Tiancheng International

Each centring on a cushion-shaped ruby weighing 11.10 and 10.41 carats respectively, framed by brilliant-cut and pear-shaped diamonds, to a detachable surmount centring on a cushion-shaped diamond weighing 1.02 and 1.01 carats respectively, surrounded by cushion-shaped and oval rubies altogether weighing 6.58 carats, the diamonds altogether weighing approximately 8.45 carats, mounted in 18 karat white and yellow gold.

Accompanied by Gübelin reports numbered 13116108 and 14116064, dated 23 November 2013 and 1 December 2014 respectively, stating that the 11.10 and 10.41 carat rubies are natural, Red and Pink-Red colour, of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating; along with four information sheets stating that the 11.10 and 10.41 rubies are unheated and both from Mogok, Burma; 

GRS reports numbered GRS2013-110168 and 2014-114106, dated 6 November 2013 and 26 November 2014 respectively, stating that the 11.10 and 10.42 carat rubies are natural, Vivid Red (GRS type "Pigeon's Blood") and Red Colour respectively, of Burmese origin, with no indication of thermal treatment; 

LOTUS report numbered 1286-3122, dated 3 August 2015, stating that the 11.10 and 10.41 carat and all other sixteen small rubies are natural, Red Colour, of vivid saturation and medium-deep tone, of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating or treatment. 'The intense crimson colour of this gem earns it the LOTUS "Pigeon's Blood" distinction. Matched sets of untreated Burmese rubies of this size and quality are exceedingly rare'; 

GIA reports numbered 1178165923 and 2176889084, dated 1 April and 26 August 2014 respectively, stating that the 1.02 and 1.01 diamonds are F colour, VS1 clarity, the 1.01 carat diamond with Excellent Polish; another 8 GIA reports, stating that the brilliant-cut diamonds ranging from 0.71 to 0.40 carat, are F colour, VVS2 to VS1 clarity, with Excellent Cut, Polish and Symmetry.

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Fine 26.77 carats Burmese Mogok “Pigeon’s Blood” ruby and 14.60 carats diamond bracelet. Estimate HK$3,500,000 - 4,500,000 (US$450,000 - 577,000). Photo Tiancheng International

The articulated double-stranded bracelet set with twenty-six oval and cushion-shaped rubies together weighing 26.77 carats, each intervalled by a pear-shaped diamond together weighing 14.60 carats, mounted in 18 karat white and yellow gold, length approximately 170mm.

Accompanied by Gübelin report numbered 14116034/1 to 26, dated 4 December 2014, stating that the rubies ranging from 1.30 to 0.75 carats are natural, Red colour, of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating. 'The colour variety of the majority of the rubies in this bracelet may also be called "Pigeon's Blood Red" in the trade';

SSEF report and Premium Book numbered 81615, dated 24 August 2015, stating that the rubies ranging from approximately 1.30 to 0.80 carats are natural, Red colour of medium strong to strong saturation, of Burmese (Mong Hsu) origin, with no indications of heating. 'The colour of part of these rubies may also be called 'Pigeon Blood Red' in the trade'; along with an appendix letter, stating that 'The natural ruby bracelet descibed...possesses extraordinary characteristics and merits special mention and appreciation...The rubies exhibit a highly matching and beautifully saturated colour combined with a fine purity. The small inclusions found by microscopic inspection are the hallmarks of rubies from the reputed ruby mines in the green hills of Mong Hsu (southeast of Mogok). Their attractive and saturated colour - poetically also referred to as 'Pigeon Blood Red' for part of these rubies - is due to a combination of well-balanced trace elements in these gemstones, characteristic for the finest rubies from Burma (Myanmar)...Assembling a matching selection of natural rubies from Burma of such a quality is rare and exceptional.';

26 GIA reports, stating that the diamonds ranging from 0.73 to 0.50 carat are D colour, Internally Flawless to VVS2 clarity with Excellent Polish, 4 diamonds amongst with Excellent Polish and Symmetry.

Tiancheng International. HONG KONG AUTUMN AUCTION, Jewellery and Jadeite

Pear-shaped Bottle, Cizhou ware, Song dynasty, 12th century. Stoneware with "oil-spot" glaze; 12 13/16 x 6 3/4 in. (32.54 x 17.15 cm). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton 99.69.2 © 2015 All Rights Reserved. Minneapolis Institute of Art

Used primarily for serving wine during the Jin (1115-1234) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties, the distinctive form of pear-shaped bottles seem to have originated in eleventh century silver vessels which were imitated in ceramic at the Ding kilns of north China.

The rare "oil-spot" glaze of this bottle was developed earlier at the Jian kilns in Fujian province during the Northern Song (960-1127). The dark brown-black glaze is covered with an "oil-spot" pattern comprised of numerous rust-brown spots each with a silvery metallic fleck in the center. After the first coat of glaze had dried, a solution rich in iron compounds was applied to create the desired silvery brown oil spots upon firing.

Bottle, Yuan dynasty, 13th-14th century. Stoneware with "cut-glaze" floral decoration, 10-9/16 x 6-1/2 x 6-1/2 in. (26.8 x 16.5 x 16.5 cm). Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton 2001.7.2 © 2015 All Rights Reserved. Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

This beautifully proportioned pear-shaped bottle displays an elegant floral design achieved with the so-called "cut-glaze" technique. This design was produced by cutting and scraping away the glaze and applying wax or oil to the exposed body areas before firing. The incisions combined with the resist successfully confined the glaze to the desired areas. Song dynasty (960-1279) potters introduced a wide variety of decorative techniques to enliven the black-glazed stonewares that had been produced in China since the early Six-Dynasties (fourth century). The earlier wares had been produced as undecorated black or brown monochromes. The cut-glaze technique allowed for the creation of motifs and designs of great clarity and visual strength.

22.03 carats fancy deep yellow-brown diamond and diamond ring, William Goldberg. Estimate HK$2,500,000 - 3,500,000 (US$320,000 - 450,000). Photo Tiancheng International

Set with a pear-shaped fancy deep yellow-brown diamond weighing 22.03 carats, decorated with brilliant-cut diamonds to the basket extending to the shoulders, mounted in 18 karat pink gold, signed. Ring size: 6¼

Accompanied by GIA report numbered 1156071179, dated 31 October 2012, stating that the 22.03 carat diamond is natural, Fancy Deep Yellow-Brown colour, SI1 clarity.

“The very essence of diamonds is to bring joy into the lives of people” – William Goldberg

Celebrated jeweller William Goldberg (1925 – 2003) was born to a candy shop owner in New York. Perhaps it was destined that his parents sent him to learn diamond cutting. During his apprenticeship, he realized that his true talent was discovering and bringing out the beauty in a diamond. It was then that he started his career as a diamond dealer. 
Over the ensuing decades, his name would become synonymous with the most spectacular diamonds in the world. Apart from the 136.25-carat Queen of Holland diamond, which was purchased by the company in 1975, some of the most legendary diamonds in history also come from William Goldberg. They include the Premier Rose, a 137.02-carat D colour Flawless pear-shaped diamond, the Blue Lili, a 30.06-carat trapezoid vivid blue diamond, the Beluga, a 102.23 carat D colour Flawless oval-cut diamond, and the Red Shield, a 5.11-carat Internally Flawless Fancy Red diamond – the largest Fancy Red natural colour diamond that the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) had graded up to that time. In 1999, William Goldberg introduced its unique, patented ASHOKA® cut diamond – an elongated antique cushion-cut with rounded corners and 62 facets. 
Throughout his life, Mr. Goldberg dedicated himself to diamonds and jewellery. He was elected President of the Diamond Dealers Club for three terms and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Modern Jeweler magazine. The GIA inducted Mr. Goldberg into the League of Honor and the company’s celebrated coloured diamond collection was exhibited at the American Museum of Natural History. In 2005, the GIA named their New York Student Lounge in his honor. East 48th Street, in the heart of Manhattan’s diamond district, was also renamed William Goldberg Way in 2006, paying homage to Mr. Goldberg’s significant contributions to the jewellery industry. 

Tiancheng International. HONG KONG AUTUMN AUCTION, Jewellery and Jadeite