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https://www.barrons.com/articles/sothebys-to-auction-a-sanyu-nude-in-hong-kong-in-the-spring-01574114113

While the art world is watching closely whether Five Nudes will set a price record for Sanyu at Christie’s this Saturday, its competitor, Sotheby’s, announced that it would feature another iconic nude painting by the Chinese-French artist at its spring sale in Hong Kong.

Sanyu, also known as Chang Yu, who is regarded as “the Chinese Matisse, ” was born in China in 1901 and moved to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in 1921. He died in Paris in 1966 at age 64.

In the late 1950s and ’60s, Sanyu reinvented the female nude, one of the most important subject matters from his early career. However, most of his nude paintings feature a single figure, only six depicted groups of three or more female nudes.

Quatre Nus, which will be offered for sale at Sotheby’s in spring 2020, applies a diagonal composition in its depiction of four reclining female nude figures. They all appear to be enjoying a warm summer’s day reclining on the grass. Their postures, hair color, and facial features are each different.

Five Nudes, one of the largest of the six and depicting the most figures, is expected to fetch between HK$250 million and HK$550 million (US$32 million and US$71 million) at Christie’s evening sale of 20th century and contemporary art in Hong Kong on Nov. 23.

The current auction record for Sanyu is the sale of his Nude, which fetched HK$198 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on Oct. 5.

“Sanyu’s paintings of female nudes, particularly the larger-scale works, have sparked lively conversations among collectors and art lovers worldwide, both for their aesthetic value and their place in modern art history,” Vinci Chang, Sotheby’s head of modern Asian art, said in a statement.

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