innerspace | interior design blog: christie's

3/18/15

asian art | the ellsworth collection | chinese furniture

christie's new york is selling an extraordinary collection of chinese furniture.

the collection of robert hatfield ellsworth | christie's new york | 17-21 march 2015

the extraordinary collection of robert hatfield ellsworth includes not only chinese furniture, but also buddhist art, scholar's objects, and contemporary paintings.

polychrome wood figure of a seated bodhisattva | china | song-jin dynasty (960-1234)

this sculpture greeted guests as they entered robert ellsworth's apartment

sold for US$ 1,685,000 | christie's new york | 17 march 2015 | sale 11418 | lot 58

photo credit lisa walsh | innerspace

as well as chinese bronzes, jades, and ceramics.

gilt bronze figure of a seated bear | china | western han dynasty (206 BCE-8 CE)

one of a set of four weights, used to anchor the corners of a bamboo seating mat

sold for US$ 2,853,000 | christie's new york | 17 march 2015 | sale 11418 | lot 1

photo credit lisa walsh | innerspace

along with japanese, himalayan, indian, and southeast asian art.

stable with fine horses | one of a pair of six panel screens | japan | edo period (17th century)

sold for US$ 509,000 | christie's new york | 17 march 2015 | sale 11418 | lot 45

photo credit christie's | wsj

the ellsworth collection is the largest private collection of asian art ever sold at auction. the 2000 object collection will be sold during six live auctions and one on line auction held from 17-21 march 2015.

III

photo credits christie's

i was thrilled that my recent trip to new york coincided with the auction preview, which is, not surprisingly, generating unprecedented crowds. the auctions also seem to be generating unprecedented results.

robert ellsworth (1929-2014) was a prominent american asian art collector, dealer, and scholar. he sold asian art from his 22 room new york apartment, located on fifth avenue near the metropolitan museum of art. as an asian art dealer, ellsworth has been credited with establishing new collecting categories, such as ancient chinese jades, or chinese furniture from the ming (1368-1644) and qing (1644-1911) dynasties. his clients included major museums, such as the met, the museum of fine arts, boston, the cleveland museum of art, the philadelphia museum of art, and the nelson-atkins museum. plus, important private collectors, such as john d. rockefeller III, who donated his asian art collection to asia society.

ellsworth's publications include chinese furniture: hardwood examples of the ming and early ch’ing dynasties, which is considered one of THE chinese furniture reference books.

some of the most important pieces of chinese furniture in the ellsworth collection are huanghuali wood tables and chairs.

chinese furniture is usually categorized according to construction technique. chinese tables usually have either corner legs or recessed legs. corner leg tables can be either unwaisted or waisted.

photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace, christie's, lisa walsh | innerspace, and christie's

chinese games tables are usually square. this table is exceptional because it is the only known example of a rectangular games table with drawers. the removable top and game boards are also unusual.

recessed leg tables can have either plain or cloud shaped spandrels.

huanghuali recessed leg painting table | china | ming dynasty (17th century)

sold for US$ 3,525,000 | christie's new york | 17 march 2015 | sale 11418 | lot 42

photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace

this painting table is exceptional because of the massive timber, generous width, and early date.

pair of huanghuali bamboo-form continuous horseshoe-back armchairs | china | late ming-early qing dynasty (17th-early 18th century)
sold for US$ 2,629,000 | christie's new york | 17 march 2015 | sale 11418 | lot 47
photo credits lisa walsh | innerspace, lisa walsh | innerspace, and christie's

this pair of horseshoe back armchairs is exceptional because the chairs have continuous back rails, which are quite fragile, and therefore extremely rare.

the round members, undulating aprons, and wrap around stretchers emulate bamboo, which was a less expensive material than hardwood.

several unusual features distinguish this set of four armchairs from other horsehoe-back armchairs.

huanghuali horseshoe-back armchair | china | qing dynasty (17th-18th century)
sold for US$ 581,000 | christie's new york | 18 march 2015 | sale 11419 | lot 139
photo credit christie's

the extremely elegant curve of the crest rails.
the exceptional sweeping hooks of the handles.
the unusual three-part pierced backsplats.
and, the sublime grain of the wood, which suggests a mountain landscape.

photo credit lisa walsh | innerspace

do you think that these features make the four armchairs worth US$ 9,000,000?

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5/7/13

art | ruth asawa

ruth asawa: objects & apparitions, a solo exhibition at christie's in new york from 6-31 may 2013, features 34 sculptures and 14 works on paper by the san francisco artist, who is best known for her modernist wire sculptures.

ruth asawa: objects & apparitions
solo exhibition of 48 works of art | on loan or available for private sale
christie's | new york | 6-31 may 2013
photo credit christie's

ruth asawa studied color, design, drawing, and painting with josef albers from 1946-1949 at black mountain college, a progressive liberal arts school in north carolina. albers taught the fundamental courses at the bauhaus before emigrating from germany to the united states in 1933. so, asawa's experimentation with the interrelationship between material, process, form, and light, could be directly and indirectly attributed to bauhaus design principles and modernist aesthetics.

josef albers | homage to the square (A) | 1950
ruth asawa | untitled | hanging sculpture | looped wire | circa 1950's
photo credits (c) 2013 the josef and anni albers foundation/artist's rights society (ARS) | new york and (c) the imogen cunningham trust, 2013

asawa originally wanted to become a painter. at black mountain college, her paintings assimilated the aesthetic principles that albers taught in his color, design, drawing, and painting classes. her black mountain paintings also interpreted the motifs that albers taught in his design class.

don't the dancer motifs in asawa's abstract paintings anticipate her 'form within a form' wire sculptures?

ruth asawa | dancers | oil on paper | 1946-1947
ruth asawa | untitled | hanging sculpture | oxidized copper looped wire | 1996
photo credits christie's and christie's

in his design class, albers used the meander pattern, which could be mirrored, reversed, enlarged, condensed, or connected, to teach mathematical relationships and foreshortening.

don't the textures of asawa's looped wire sculptures recall these meander pattern studies?

imogen cunningham (1883-1976) | ruth asawa holding a 'form within a form' sculpture | photograph | 1952

ruth asawa | meander curved lines | ink on paper | 1948

photo credits (c) the imogen cunningham trust, 2013 and christie's

like his classes at the bauhaus, albers' classes at black mountain college also emphasized the experience of exploration.

asawa began experimenting with wire as a sculptural material after spending the summer of 1947 as a volunteer art teacher in toluca, mexico, where she learned how to crochet wire baskets from the villagers, who used the baskets in the farmer's market.

according to albers, every material has inherent qualities that can be accentuated through combination, juxtaposition, or manipulation.

to asawa, drawing became sculpture through the crocheting process. a two dimensional line could be manipulated into a three dimensional form.

'its like drawing in space!'

-ruth asawa

ruth asawa | untitled | basket | brass looped wire | 1955
photo credit christie's

she found both the linear and transparent qualities of the looped wire sculpture appealing.

'[transparencey] it was albers' word...

...my sculpture is like that.

you can see through it.

the piece does not hide anything.

you can show inside and outside,

and inside and outside are connected.

everything is connected, continuous.'

-ruth asawa

the interior and exterior of asawa's tied wire sculpture is also connected.

asawa began making tied wire sculpture in 1962, after friends brought back a desert plant from their vacation in death valley, CA for her to draw. instead, she began experimenting with wire, which she bundled, divided, subdivided, and tied into trunks, branches, and roots. the diameter of the core determined the number of divisions.

ruth asawa | desert flower | lithograph in colors | 1965

ruth asawa | untitled | hanging sculpture | oxidized copper tied wire | 1962

photo credits christie's and christie's

if you live in san francisco, you may have visited the installation of ruth asawa's tied wire and looped wire sculpture in the lobby of the hamon tower at the de young museum in golden gate park.

asawa donated 15 sculptures to the de young museum, and designed the installation along with the museum director and the curator. she envisioned a juxtaposed installation, similar to the installation of sculptures in her home and studio.

living room of the asawa-lanier home | san francisco CA | 1995
photo credit laurence cuneo

she also envisioned an installation that explored the relationship between light, shadow, transparency, and form.

the lighting design of the de young installation creates unexpected transformations that manipulate the form of asawa's wire sculptures. spotlights project highlights onto the sculptures, and shadows onto the walls, floor, and ceiling. the highlights and shadows define, expand, and dematerialize the forms.