Savvy High-End Buyers Send Asian Sales Soaring

Vol. XXX, No. 17                                                                                Raj S. Rangarajan

NEW YORK—Intense competition for great objects and strong demand from Japan and mainland China helped fuel record totals for Asian art at a series of spring auctions held, during what has come to be known as Asia Week, by Christie’s and Sotheby’s from March 29-April 1. Christie’s posted $26.3 million, its highest Asian art total to date and comfortably above last year’s total of $20 million. Sotheby’s took $17.8 million, more than double its year-ago figure of $8.3 million.

Observes James Lally, president of J. J. Lally & Co., Manhattan: “The impact of buyers from mainland China was an important dynamic this week. . . . And Japanese buyers, who laid low for some time, have come back strong to bid on Song dynasty (960-1279) pieces.” Lally suggests that the rising market has been a trend “for some time now. People are bidding for the high end of Chinese ceramics rather than for moderately priced items.” An exhibit of early Chinese ceramics at his gallery was sold out by more than half, he reports, citing interest from buyers in town for the auctions as well as for the International Asian Art Fair and the Arts of Pacific Asia show, which were held the first week in April.

Philip Constantinidi, director of Eskenazi Ltd., London, which exhibited Tang dynasty (618-906) works at New York’s PaceWildenstein gallery from March 28-April 9, says private collectors “are in a mood to spend money on quality.” He adds that gallery owners on the whole were upbeat this season about auction sales since “estimates were reasonable and some of the Christie’s lots were priced low.”

Sotheby’s total encompassed sales of fine Chinese ceramics and works of art ($13.36 million) and a $4.4 million sale of Indian and southeast Asian art. Christie’s sale breakdown was: $9.47 million for Chinese ceramics and works of art; $7.2 million, Indian and Southeast Asian art, including modern and contemporary art; $5.6 million, Japanese swords; and $3.9 million, Chinese snuff bottles.

At Sotheby’s in the fine Chinese ceramics and works of art category, Eskenazi Ltd. bought arare copper-red pear-shaped vase (Ming dynasty, Hongwu period, 1368-98) for $2.03 million (estimate: $300,000/500,000); and a large carved “Ding” foliate dish (Northern Song dynasty, 960-1127) for $1.53 million (estimate: $400,000/600,000).

A Chinese private collector picked up a rare set of ten Imperial Bannermen paintings(Emperor’s Honor Guard), attributed to Jin Tingbiao, inscribed by the Qianlong emperor, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-95) for $1.02 million (estimate: $100,000/150,000).

Bronze from India Stars at Sotheby’s

In the Indian and southeast Asian art section a rare, early-seventh-century bronze image of the goddess Prajnaparamita, or Saraswati, in copper alloy with silver-and-copper inlay from the Gilgit region in northwest India, set a record at $553,600 (estimate: $400,000/600,000).

Robin Dean, head of Sotheby’s Indian and Southeast Asian department, was “happy to see continued interest in rare and important Himalayan material,” adding, “We saw a rejuvenatedIndian miniatures section, with several lots selling many times over their top estimates and a continued aggressive market for modern Indian paintings.”

Maqbool Fida Husain’s acrylic-on-canvas painting Shatranj ki Khiladi (Chess Players), signed in Bengali, fetched $144,000 (estimate: $90,000/120,000); and the late Francis Newton Souza’s oil-on-canvas Landscape, signed and dated “Souza 62,” fell for $132,000 (estimate: $60,000/80,000). Both works were purchased by private European collectors.

At Christie’s, among the top ten in the Chinese ceramics auction was a 16-inch-high polychrome-glazed lobed jar, with a Jiajing period (1522-1566) mark, which was acquired for $598,400 (estimate: $300,000/500,000) by a private buyer. A “numbered” Junyao “hexagonal tripod” Narcissus bowl (Song/Jin dynasty, 12th-13th centuries) went for $396,800 to an east Asian dealer (estimate: $100,000/150,000). Theow Tow, deputy chairman, and Tina Zonars, head of the Chinese art department, reported that “the sale was anchored by several private as well as museum collections that were offered,” adding that results indicate “a continuous and strong market demand for quality, freshness and provenance.”

The sale of Indian and southeast Asian art, including modern and contemporary art,established six new auction records by Indian artists Prabhakar Barwe (1936-1995), Bikash Bhattacharjee (b. 1940), Atul Dodiya (b. 1959), Chittrovanu Mazumdar (b. 1956), Akbar Padamsee (b. 1928) and A. Ramachandran (b. 1935).

Stated Hugo Weihe, Christie’s international director of Asian art and head of its Indian and southeast Asian department: “The sale was another milestone for Indian art. The modern and contemporary section totaled $3.7 million from 94 lots, the highest total ever, and was 95 percent sold.”

A European collector bought a sandstone torso of goddess Uma (33 inches high), Khmer, Angkor period, Baphuon style, 11th century, for $486,400, against a high estimate of $350,000; and an Asian buyer picked up a gray schist head of the Emaciated Siddhartha (81⁄2 inches high), Gandhara, second-third centuries, for $284,800, more than three times the high estimate of $80,000.

Matthieu Ricard: The Compassionate Eye

Raj S. Rangarajan



LEAPING MONK DANCERS BY THE SEA (France)


During a European tour demonstrating Tibetan sacred dances, monks from the Shechen Monastery in Nepal express joy at their first sight of the Atlantic Ocean at a beach in France Collection of Madhav and Patty Dhar

The Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) has on display now the photographic work of Tibetan Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard who is of French descent. The exhibition titled - The Compassionate Eye focuses on a bunch of photographs taken by Ricard during visits to the Kham region of eastern Tibet.

A creative genius who makes his camera talk Ricard has studied photography, classical music and science and has a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the Institute Pasteur. His indelible pictures – a forest of fluttering flags, a swirl of dancing monks and young monks leaping joyously at the edge of the sea – make for great poetry and a momentum that carries a certain permanency and joy.




TALL PRAYER FLAGS WITH TWO MONKS (Bhutan)

Forests of prayer flags on bamboo poles can be found throughout Bhutan -on hilltops, in wooded clearings, beside rivers, near temples, and atop mountain peaks. Printed from wooden blocks and consecrated by lamas, the flags are replaced once or twice a year by the local people - Collection of Madhav and Patty Dhar

Ricard has lived for more than thirty years in the Himalayan region and has used his camera to articulate about people, landscapes, spiritual teachers and the traditions of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan in particular and about India, in general. He is a French interpreter for the Dalai Lama and is also the author and photographer of his books Journey to Enlightenment and Monk Dancers of Tibet.

Ricard’s work will be on display till Summer this year.

[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, travel and lifestyles and reviews books, films and plays for media based in New York, California, Toronto, India and Australia.]

A Lot Like Love: Breezy 20-plus Comedy: Film Review

Raj S. Rangarajan


Ashton Kutcher, Kal Penn, and Ty Giordano





NEW YORK: “Don’t: You’ll ruin it!” is a line Amanda Peet (Emily) uses a couple of times in “A Lot Like Love,” a romantic comedy that also stars Ashton Kutcher (Oliver), being released Friday, April 22 in cinema halls in America and Canada.

Love is a light comedy where the female and male leads are constantly trying to read each other’s minds, each is confused or intrigued as to what the other is thinking and when they really have each other, somehow they miss saying the “right” words, which is a compliment to the writers who have the audience constantly teased. The narrative moves from New York to Los Angeles to San Francisco, and back again. The story seems to be a fuzzy reflection of some folks of the 20-plus generation that is preoccupied with the rational rather than the emotional. Once in a while a movie such as this comes along that addresses romance thematically and one is motivated to discuss the theme at length.

The characters’ insecurities, confidence and repartee are continually tested and reflected admirably where Oliver, after graduation, wants his job, career, house and girl in that order (“ducks in a row!”) but the bohemian Emily, a bold, free spirit is given to spontaneous streaks such as rushing into an airline washroom when it is already occupied by Oliver. What a way to meet.

Ashton Kutcher, who last year starred and produced the box office thriller – The Butterfly Effect has also appeared in Guess Who? with Bernie Mac and Dude, Where’s My Car? Amanda Peet (Identity, Something’s Gotta Give) who just completed a run in the play, “This Is How It Goes” at New York’s Public Theater is also currently co-starring in the Woody Allen comedy, “Melinda and Melinda” for Fox Searchlight.

In his career pursuit Oliver’s business partner is Kal Penn (Jeeter) who played a meatier role in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle as a comic with John Cho. With thick spectacles Penn looks serious and driven about obtaining finance for Kutcher’s venture capital project – Diaperush.com – with the mission statement: sell diapers. Whether the success of this movie will help Kal Penn move up a notch in his career path is debatable. Jeeter’s “moment of madness” in Love however, comes when he orders a Hummer.


(Ashton Kutcher and Kal Penn)












(Kal Penn with Amanda Peet)

Desis will be happy that the Montclair, New Jersey-born Penn is getting more roles in mainstream movies, albeit in supporting roles. Another feature he is currently shooting in Manhattan is The Namesake being directed by Mira Nair, based on a novel by Jhumpa Lahiri who won a Pulitzer for her fiction – Interpreter of Maladies.

Its perhaps a cliché but its karma inevitably – it seems – that keep these two 20-somethings’ relationship on and off over a period of seven years. While they do not complete each other’s sentences, there’s something inexplicable that draws them to each other whether it is in New York’s Chinatown, Los Angeles’s El Matador Beach or San Francisco. Witty, playful conversation – sometimes words that are never uttered by Oliver or Emily – help this romance flower in spite of themselves.

British director Nigel Cole deserves credit for attempting a concept where a great romance could ruin a good friendship, as the ad says, specially with many of today’s young questioning every aspect of life, school, career, family, et al. Cole has handled screenwriter and Los Angeles-based actor, Colin Patrick Lynch’s contemporary theme with panache and sensitivity. Lynch has been writing screenplays for 14 years and this movie – A Lot Like Love is his debut on the large screen. In 2003 under Cole’s direction Calendar Girls was adjudged Best Film at the 2003 British Comedy awards, a movie that was inspired by the real-life story of women who hit the headlines when they posed nude in their women organization’s calendar to raise money for leukemia.

Others who appear are Kathryn Hahn (Michelle) as Emily’s close friend. Hahn was Lily Lebowski in the NBC drama “Crossing Jordan” and on the big screen in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Also appearing is Ty Giordano (Graham) who acts as Oliver’s brother and their interaction is very real when the brothers communicate in American sign language. Kutcher, who spent several months learning the language says, “Graham is a character who just happens to be deaf.”

In order to represent transition of the on-going 7-year story director of photography John de Borman (earlier work with Cole on his feature film debut of Saving Grace), shows a plethora of colors and a certain anxiety in his choice of lighting, which as the relationship matures, brings his considerable skills to a mature and pleasant fruition.

[Raj S. Rangarajan is a New York based freelance writer. He covers trend stories on art, travel and lifestyles and reviews books, films and plays for media based in New York, California, Toronto, India and Australia.]

[Photos by Ben Glass. Copyright Holding Pictures Distribution Company, LLC.]