Estella Collection

From ArtSpeak China (ASC) Wiki

The Estella Collection has been called "the largest and most important collection of Chinese contemporary Art ever to appear at auction." The collection, sold by Sotheby's and Acquavella Galleries, documents social trends arising from pivotal moments in recent Chinese history through the eyes of the most instantly recognizable names in the field. However, the sale was controversial as a number of the artists represented in the collection, as well as curators and scholars who assisted in forming and promoting it, claimed that they had been under the impression that the collection was being built for an individual who intended to donate a portion of the works to public institutions and were unaware that it would be sold at auction when they agreed to participate.^[1] 

Contents 1 History 2 Collection 3 Sale 4 Controversy 5 References

[edit] History

The artworks represent about half of what Michael Goedhuis, the Manhattan dealer who spent more than three years amassing the works for two collectors, named the Estella Collection. “I was reading Dickens’s ‘Great Expectations’ and I felt it was a name the Chinese could pronounce,” he said. “Although Estella wasn’t a pretty character, it’s a pretty name.”^[2] In August 2007, William Acquavella bought the collection from Goedhuis, and by the end of the summer, Acquavella had joined forces with Sotheby's, undertaking the immediate sale of the collection at auction.

[edit] Collection

The Collection, comprising over 200 works, includes seminal pieces by prominent artists such as Ai Weiwei, Zhang Xiaogang, Cai Guo-Qiang and Xu Bing, alongside those by emerging artists. The Estella Collection is significant for its unique embrace of artistic mediums ranging from traditional paintings and works on paper, to video installation, sculpture and photography. The collection was featured in the exhibition Made in China at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem^[3] and was published in the catalogue China Onward: The Estella Collection–Chinese Contemporary Art, edited by Britta Erickson.

[edit] Sale

The sale of the Estella Collection was held in two parts: approximately 110 works offered in April, 2008, in Hong Kong during Sotheby’s spring sales; with a further offering at Sotheby’s in New York that autumn. During the preview period, Evelyn Lin, Head of the Contemporary Chinese Art Department, Sotheby’s China and Southeast Asia, said, “The Estella Collection’s content, size and value establish it as amongst the best collections of Chinese contemporary Art. This is an unparalleled opportunity for collectors, both new and established, to acquire works from a collection whose encyclopedic presentation of artists has helped to reinterpret the history of Chinese contemporary art.”^[4] 

The sales total was $15,227,214 ($17,888,575 including premium), a result 26.7% ($3,208,601) above the high end estimate. Of the 108 lots, 55 lots (50.9%) were sold above thier high estimate, 36 lots (33.3%) were sold within the estimated range, and seven lots (6.5%) were sold below their low estimate. The sell-through rate was 90.7%, as 10 lots (9.3%) remained unsold or were withdrawn before the auction.^[5]

[edit] Controversy

A number of artists and curators involved in the Estella Collection expressed their dissatisfaction with the sale, stating publicly that they felt misled by Goedhuis. Artists including Feng Zhengjie and He San publicly claimed that they had been led to believe that their works would be a part of a large, permanent collection and that Goedhuis was working on behalf of a wealthy Western collector. Indeed, some artists and dealers say that they sold work to the collection at a discount, believing that the exposure offered by such a prominent collection and the possibility that work would be donated to museums would be beneficial to their careers. ^[6] According to He San, "Many artists, including me, were convinced by [[[Michael_Goedhuis|Michael Goedhuis]]], gave our best works to Michael, some even at a relatively cheap price.[...] Then it turned out to be an auction. We feel sold out by him."^[7] Further, curators and officials at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and the Israel Museum, who had exhibited the collection prior to the sale, expressed similar feelings; curator Anders Kold who organized the Made in China exhibition at the Louisiana Museum stated in a New York Times article that the museum would not have considered exhibiting the collection knowing that it would be sold at auction shortly thereafter, a sentiment echoed by the Israel Museum, whose officials said they had been given no indication of any intention to sell the Estella Collection.^[8] Britta Erickson, who had been hired by Goedhuis to edit the catalogue, told the Times that she "believed it was to be a personal collection being assembled for the long term, with perhaps some pieces to be donated to museums."^[9] Following the sale, Sotheby's acknowledged in a statement that "it became aware that a few artists had sold their works with a different expectation about what would happen to them in the future."^[10]

[edit] References

1. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/arts/design/07coll.html
2. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/arts/design/28voge.html
3. ↑ http://www.imj.org.il/exhibitions/2007/china/index_e.html
4. ↑ http://www.sgallery.net/artnews/2008/03/10/sotheby-s-to-offer-the-estella-collection-of-chinese-contemporary-art.html
5. ↑ http://oneartworld.com/auctions/with?sale=S30
6. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/arts/design/07coll.html?pagewanted=1
7. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/arts/design/07coll.html?pagewanted=2
8. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/arts/design/07coll.html?pagewanted=1
9. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/arts/design/07coll.html?pagewanted=2
10. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/arts/design/07coll.html?pagewanted=2