London dealer Michael Goedhuis’ Chinese art collection brings $2.5M at Bonhams

Late Ming dynasty silver-inlaid bronze figure of Guanyin, £214,500. Image courtesy of Bonhams

LONDON – There were impressive results for Bonhams’ Michael Goedhuis: Brush & Bronze sale on May 17 at Bonhams New Bond Street. The curated sale, which offered a selection of Chinese ink paintings by more than 20 key artists of the last four decades and bronze sculptures and vessels, mostly focused on those produced from the Song dynasty (960-1279) to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), made a total of £2,078,000 (about $2.5 million), with 99% sold by lot and 100% sold by value. The top lot was Landscape, 2010-2011, by Li Huayi (b. 1948-), which sold for £277,500.

It was in 1975 that Michael Goedhuis left a successful career in investment banking to pursue his interest in art. Dealing initially in Persian, Mughal and Islamic art, he later expanded his activities to cover India, Japan and China. Since the early 1990s he has concentrated on Chinese Modern and Contemporary art and has played a key role in throwing light on the relevance of Chinese ink art to modern aesthetics. Interviewed by art critic Susan Moore in the latest edition of Bonhams Magazine (spring 2023), Goedhuis said: “It is the ink painters who are truly revolutionary and culturally subversive. They are the most idealistic and intellectually daring of all contemporary Chinese artists.”

Li Huayi, ‘Landscape,’ £277,500. Image courtesy of Bonhams

Other highlights of the sale included:

A silver-inlaid bronze figure of Guanyin with a He Chaozong mark, dating to the late Ming dynasty. It became the leading bronze sculpture in the May 17 lineup when it achieved £214,500.

A 2007 work by Liu Dan (b. 1953-), titled Old Cypress from the Forbidden City, which earned £227,100.

17th-century bronze seated Guanyin figure, £82,200. Image courtesy of Bonhams

A 17th-century documentary bronze seated figure of Guanyin, which realized £82,200.

A Ming dynasty bronze sheep-form incense burner and cover, which brought £85,980.

Wang Dongling, ‘Confrontation of Yin and Yang,’ £75,900. Image courtesy of Bonhams

A 2005 work by Wang Dongling (b. 1945-), titled Confrontation of Yin and Yang, which sold for £75,900.

The current rate of exchange is £1 = $1.24.

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