Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • Contact Us
  • Podcast
  • Newsletter
  • Fantasy Collecting Game
  • AMMpro

Never Before Exhibited Zhang Daqian Painting Leads Chew Family Sale at Sotheby’s in NY

February 26, 2018 by Marion Maneker

Sotheby’s have added an evening sale to Asia Week New York for The Chew Family Collection of Chinese Paintings & Calligraphy. The March 22 auction will feature seventy-six paintings and calligraphy assembled by two generations of the Chew family. The collection has the added luster of the Chew family’s friendship with Zhang Daqian and includes one of his works previously unknown to the public (above). In 2011, during the first year of exploding art sales among Mainland Chinese buyers, Zhang Daqian was the third most valuable artist by sales volume at the three major auction houses worldwide. Sotheby’s has a short but enlightening video on the artist that is worth viewing.

Proceeds from the sale will benefit two trusts established by Frances Chew prior to her passing to continue her mission and to benefit those in need. Here’s Sotheby’s release on the Chews and Zhang

THE CHEW FAMILY COLLECTION

In the 1930s, Joan Chew, daughter of famous revolutionary officer General Wu Luzhen, arrived in the United States to study music at the University of Southern California. There she met and married Thomas Chew, a fellow student at the business school; together they managed a number of businesses in import, export and Chinese antiquities, including the Great Wall Inc. in Los Angeles, China Commerce Co. in San Francisco and the China Art Center in Carmel. In Carmel, where Frances, Joan and Thomas put down roots, the Chew Family managed the Dolores Lodge, which became a favorite rest stop for the celebrated modern painter, Zhang Daqian, and his friends.

Frances Chew was a brilliant student and accomplished athlete, graduating from Mills College before travelling to the Sorbonne in Paris and Yale University to study and teach French literature. Following her father’s untimely passing, she returned to California to support her mother, to manage the China Art Center, and to become a mentee of Zhang Daqian. In her own words, “it was a way [Zhang Daqian] communicated – quick, deep insights on art and on life. It was not something to be analyzed or explained. For those who understand, no explanation was necessary, for those who didn’t, no explanation was possible.” In the 1980s, Frances left California to pursue a vocation with the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Theresa to care for the sick and the poor; over the next decade, she, then known as Sister Asha, lived and worked in New York, Rome and Haiti, before returning home in 1992 to take care of her mother. Frances Chew passed away in early 2017.

ZHANG DAQIAN AND THE CHEW FAMILY

One of, if not the most, illustrious modern Chinese artist of his time, Zhang Daqian emigrated to the United States in 1967, living first in Carmel and later in Monterey. There, he befriended the Chew Family, staying at the Dolores Lodge whenever he travelled to Carmel. During these visits, Zhang Daqian and the Chews exchanged gifts including the artist’s own works such as Water and Sky Gazing after Rain in Splashed Color and Five Fortunes, which Zhang inscribed with wishes for the Chews’ 60th birthday. Zhang also inscribed paintings by other artists, including Yun Shouping’sLandscapes After Song and Yuan Masters, Tao Cheng’s Wild Rabbit Amongst Bamboo and Chrysanthemum, and Lin Liang’s Two Geese in an Autumn Lotus Pond and Two Pheasants Under a Wintry Willow Tree.

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Ai Weiwei WatchAi Weiwei Watch
  • The Season of Seventies de KooningsThe Season of Seventies de Koonings
  • A Miró to Run for a RecordA Miró to Run for a Record
  • 85-Lot Miró Trove Selling at Christie’s in February 85-Lot Miró Trove Selling at Christie’s in February
  • The Story of Zao
  • The Famous Rauschenberg Scull Shoving Match Didn’t Go Down the Way You Think It DidThe Famous Rauschenberg Scull Shoving Match Didn’t Go Down the Way You Think It Did
  • Print
  • Tweet

Filed Under: Artists, Collectors

Advertise on Art Market Monitor with Nectar Ads

Top Posts

  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Christie's $30m Rothko from 1954 for May
  • MoMA Gets an Ofili from Cohen; Bradford from Griffen; Hendricks from Dubin
  • Barney Ebsworth Dies at 83
  • What's Peter Halley's Market Telling Us?
  • Vernissage TV: Art Cologne 2018
  • Podcast
  • Global Cities Are Aging as Young Get Priced Out
  • Artelligence for April 19, 2018
  • About Us/ Contact


  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • Art Loans
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Advertise on Art Market Monitor