From Christie’s London Photographs Sale (May 16, 2012): 

Lot 100: Rinko Kawauchi, Untitled, from the series Utanane, 2001, chromogenic print, ed of 6, flush-mounted on aludibond, signed in ink on a gallery label with printed credit, title, date and number ‘5/6’ (flush mount, verso), image/flush mount: 40 x 40 in (101.5 x 101.5 cm).

Est. £4,000-6,000, sold £3,750.

(c) Rinko Kawauchi

Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd 2012.

Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale: NY, May 8, 2012.

LOT 20
Mark Rothko (1903-1970) 
Orange, Red, Yellow 
signed and dated ‘MARK ROTHKO 1961’ (on the reverse); signed again and with initials ‘M. Rothko M.B.’ (on the stretcher)
oil on canvas 
93 x 81¼ in. (236.2 x 206.4 cm.) 
Painted in 1961.

Estimate: $35,000,000 - $45,000,000
Price Realized: $86,882,500

Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale: NY, May 8, 2012.

LOT 17
David Smith (1906-1965) 
Circles and Angles 
signed, numbered and dated ‘David Smith II.II.1959’ (on the base) 
stainless steel 
26 x 41 x 8¾ in. (66 x 104.1 x 22.2 cm.) 
Executed in 1959.

Estimate: $3,000,000 - $4,000,000
Price Realized: $4,562,500

I really love Ju Ming’s work. Here’s a simple, but very beautiful example of one of his sculptures. Made in 1991, it was auctioned at Christie’s Chinese 20th Century Art (Day Sale) on May 25, 2009.

Lot 949: Ju Ming, Taichi Series - Golden Rooster Standing, 1991, wood sculpture, 50 x 32 x 50.5 cm. est. HK$1,500,000 - HK$2,000,000 ($194,419 - $259,226), sold HK$2,540,000 ($329,217).

Here’s an extract from the lot notes, which are definitely worth reading if you’re a fan (sorry, but I don’t know who to credit this to - it doesn’t say on the Christie’s website):

Ju has a profound understanding of Chinese cultural spirit; as cultural thinking further promotes and facilitates the flow of creative ideas. Ju, since the seventies, opened up a much broader artistic realm and created a series of more expressive, massive and spirit-oriented works, facilitated by his practice of Tai Chi and a deeper understanding of Chinese traditional philosophical meanings and philosophy of health preservation. His Taichi sculptures expresses the essence of Chinese cultural spirit such as like “yin yang (positive and negative forces)”, “zaoxing (form)”, “zhen ti yi yuan (union)”. Hence, Taichi series can said to represent the artist’s refined expression and careful contemplation of Chinese cultural thinking and spirit.

In applying the harmony and conformity with substance and energy of the unique Chinese spirit into his Taichi series, Ju demonstrates a streamlined, natural and dynamic sculptural style whereby “speed” replaces “fixed thinking patterns” and “self-denial” replaces “programming”: When I start to carve, changes begin and continue through the first and second cuts, and just before my mind is able to intervene, the third cut comes, blocking the gap in it, and one more cut.Thus throughout the process of cutting, my mind simply follows the actions of my hand. Even though my mind is always aware of my actions, my cuts are going ahead, and at that very moment, it is not a process of the mind. The mind eventually gives up on interjecting any ideas as only one very deep selfless process is able to proceed; my wisdom and practiced instincts however never fail to follow as I continue to carve my works. Comprising a sense of speed, bold expression and selflessness, Cock Standing (Lot 949) Ju’s signature sculptural style is revealed; the work has a clean form but is magnificent. At waist height is an astonishingly large cutting mark that vividly models the energy and sense of speed of a side kick from the right leg. The overall piece of work while simply composed of mere several giant sculptural marks of carves, is lively and complex in creation. By focusing on sculpting the lower body and keeping the hands and shoulders of the upper body in a comparatively static and weighty manner, a manner of balance and tension emerges; a seemingly intrinsic momentum of repose and restrain is carried back and forth. Armed with the concept of “speed” and “intuition”, Ju’s sculpture shows a removal from rational thinking, exhibiting a constant movement of creative intuition. Hence, Ju has escalated sculptural chopping, hacking, peeling and splitting to the levels and sentiments of the more expressive form found in literati’s calligraphy and painting. He asserted that sculptural art is not merely craftsmanship but also, like calligraphy and painting, is adeptly capable of conveying profoundly artistic values and the essence of Chinese culture.

Read the rest here.

Image via Christie’s.