Title: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on August 04, 2015, 09:04:40 pm Hello All,
I have just gone about the annual cleaning of all my display cabinets ( pic attached) The cabinets were my wife's gift to me when she had the foresight to buy our present apartment in the down trough of the 2008/9 financial crisis and because we stripped out the old decorations and re-built our apartment from scratch (bare concrete floor, walls and ceiling) she built in these amazing display cabinets which have internal lights from every possible direction - even within the glass shelves themselves. Hong Kong is a beautiful city but it is plagued with dirty air (mostly drifting south from China) so everything needs a daily dust. Our display cabinets are closed and locked, and so escape the daily dust-work, but still somehow they accumulate a fine coating of micro-fine dust which seeps in through the gaps in the cabinet doors and needs cleaning at least once per year *. Last year this time I cleaned all my 300 + bottles in preparation for the 2014 ICSBS convention and possible visits to my home , which finally only Joey and Jack Ma did (and very happy times they were). That was a 3 - day job ! This year I have finally found a way to catalog and photograph my entire collection so every bottle had to come out and be photographed - and cleaned. Why am I writing this ? It's because as I examined every bottle , whether for catalog - photography or just for annual cleaning - I understood the immense detail and care the artist had put into the painting. That applies the same to my prime Fu Goushun masterpieces down to the mere unsigned bottles I bought during my learning phase . Every bottle took someone a week or two to paint , whether the artist was talented or not. I do believe that VMIPBs have yet to "hit the market" and be recognized for the true art-work that many of them are. Sadly I will not live long enough to see that happen on a wide scale and at auctions. But I can at least see prime bottles by some of the artists I have studiously supported and collected selling at prices in the region of US$ 20 - 100K in reputable venues (eg Hong Kong's China Arts & Crafts shops and even Wang Xisan's Hengshui Museum/ shop) Every bottle has a story - and every bottle I ever bought has its own little story That's why I love to display every bottle on my glass shelves and admire them every day and night : it's a miniature art gallery ! :D I once visited the home of a local rich guy who collected Chinese paintings . He said he had " several hundred" paintings. I wondered how he could possibly display them all until I found out that he kept them all in a vault like files in a filing cabinet where they could hardly ever be seen unless taken out one-by-one . I thought to myself "what a terrible way to treat such a beautiful objects of art - it's like putting them in prison and treating them as pure investment things like stocks and shares " Because that's how that rich guy saw his art collection - it was purely as an investment and he even one day took me to dinner with the art expert who advised him which artist to buy for long-term investment (call that a "Hugh Moss" adviser ?) As to me ? I'm politely content with my little collection of miniature beauties . I have no desire to collect EVERY POSSIBLE bottle by artist X, or Y or Z. In fact I think I already bought artist's X and Y's best-ever works long before they were famous and I enjoy looking at those prime pieces ( Joey - do you remember that beautiful goldfish bottle by Song Yiming ? I think that was his finest work - ever ) Art should be appreciated and viewed every day, every night . I realize that this blurb will possibly offend other SB collectors who prefer to keep their collections under wraps and only to view to selected fellow collectors . That's their choice and I cannot argue with that But for me - art was , and is, created for beauty and beauty demands to be seen and displayed every day My favorite music piece of all time is Beethoven's 9th Symphony 3rd movement (Largo) Would Beethoven be happy of I wrote that fact or would he be happier if I turn on the CD player and listen to his music yet again ? What the heck - I have just turned on Beethoven and am going to look again at my lovely bottles Cheers Peter Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司 on August 04, 2015, 09:26:12 pm Dear Peter,
Yes I do remember the Song Yiming swimming carp bottle. It is wonderful. Do you remember that I could not see most of the beauty in your collection because the sheer mass of over 300 snuff bottles overpowered my ability to look? I needed you to remove bottles one or two at a time, so I could enjoy viewing them at your dinner table. Unless you are a mind reader (and I doubt you are), you DON'T know why the gentleman keeps his painting collection secure and takes out only a few to view at a time. I prefer to think that he is refined, and follows the scholarly Chinese system of focusing on one beautiful artwork at a time, and giving it one's undivided attention, then replacing it in its box or pouch, before bringing out another beauty to admire and learn from. This is how YF Yang taught me to appreciate my snuff bottles. He prefers his bottles in individual boxes, but compromised with me that I get 10-bottle boxes, so I see 10 at a time (He first suggested I get 5-bottle boxes, but understood the storage aspect as well; though possibly 5-bottle boxes actually might have facilitated storage even better than 10-bottle boxes. ). But as you say, to each his own. You feel free to follow the crass Western and Modern Chinese 'Nouveau Riche' style of displaying all one's wealth at one time, and I will continue to follow the refined, classic Chinese scholarly way of displaying only a few treasures at a time, so each can get the attention they 'deserve'. ;) ;D And I hope my friendly criticism will not offend, as yours did not offend me. Best, Joey Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on August 04, 2015, 09:33:09 pm Hi Joey
I expected an "instant" reply from you - but not SO instant ! :D The "rich guy" I referred to was no gentlemen collector - he was an investor , purely that I do know another art collector of a different kind (art fabrics) - his collection is now spread over several museums world-wide. Now THAT's a collector I do respect ! As for nouveaux riche ? Whatever are you thinking ? I love my little art collection for it's own sake and for no other reason. Certainly not to show off ! Cheers Peter Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Wattana on August 04, 2015, 09:39:13 pm Hi Peter,
A truly impassioned insight! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the joys of collecting. Tom Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on August 04, 2015, 10:15:15 pm Hi Tom
Thanks for the input The strangest thing is that when Song Yiming came to my home and saw that carp bottle which I bought via a third party several years earlier he dismissed it as a "sideline" thing and nothing to be proud of But I still regard it as one of his finest works ever. I simply can't explain that fact The same goes for my prime / super - prime Fu Guoshun bottle which (if there are no final technical hitches) will feature in the ICSBS Autumn Journal . For that bottle I paid RMB 43,000 = US$ 5K ++ depending on what exchange rate you use at that time. That's the most I ever paid for any bottle in RMB direct-from- artist in all my life. I now see minor FGS bottles selling for RMB 150K in Henghsui at WXS's shop and US$ hundred thousands at HK CAC. What does all this mean ? In monetary terms a lot But in REAL ART TERMS much more, very much more. I love my little collection just for its beauty, and no other reason. Beethoven' 9th largo has just turned on.......... Love to the world Peter Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Wattana on August 04, 2015, 10:59:49 pm The strangest thing is that when Song Yiming came to my home and saw that carp bottle which I bought via a third party several years earlier he dismissed it as a "sideline" thing and nothing to be proud of But I still regard it as one of his finest works ever. I simply can't explain that fact Hi Peter, Sorry to interrupt Beethoven, but you are not putting yourself in the artist's shoes. Any creative work, whether it be by a painter, sculptor, poet or composer, has its exoteric side (the outwardly displayed part), and its esoteric side, which speaks inwardly to different people in different ways. To the artist their output holds additional facets of meaning at a very personal level. Just as you say there is a story behind each bottle you have purchased, there is also an untold story for the artist himself / herself. It may have been created comfortably under happy circumstances, or conversely under particularly challenging conditions. Whatever they be, there are always personal emotions associated with the finished product in the artist's own mind. Obviously, I have no idea what goes on in Song Yiming's head, but he may have produced the carp bottle under circumstances for which he does not place the same esteem as some of his other works. But if you made him aware that you consider it "one of his finest works ever", I am certain that he will eventually come to see it that way himself. Tom Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on August 05, 2015, 02:12:57 am Hi Tom
The story behind that bottle is stranger than you can possibly think, I first saw the bottle in about 2006 / 2007 at a specialist shop in the same block of office building / hotel/ shopping arcades where my company has had and still haves an office : Landmark Towers , next to the Great Wall hotel I was totally into Chinese landscapes at that time and my top-most limit was RMB4K so to ask for a goldfish RMB15.6 K bottle was way WAY far outside my realm . I recall that I repeatedly went back to to that shop and looked at that "magic" bottle over what must have been almost 2 years . Finally in a fit of pique after a great company sale deal which left me on a huge emotional "high: I trounced my RMB 4K max limit and bought that bottle for RMB 6.5K - which for me at that time was a small fortune. It was only much later in my collecting history that I realized the true value of that bottle. In today's' prices it should sell for U$40K because I have never seen anything that is even 50% close to the quality of the painting Actually it does not matter WHO painted that bottle - whoever it was was a genius It's signed by Song Yiming and I have no doubt that he - as a genius- - painted that bottle in his more youthful years Such are the adventures in VMIPB collecting ! I did creative (music) stuff in my own more youthful years that leave even me dumbfound ! Cheers Peter Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Wattana on August 05, 2015, 02:40:00 am Hi Peter,
Wonderful story. It was obviously destined to be yours. Tom Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on August 05, 2015, 03:17:26 am Hi Tom
Yes - it was destined for me I will never part with that one special; SYM bottle till the day I die And that's the most wonderful thing about VMIPBs : they each have a personal - CURRENT - history, like a face book thing / pedigree . They truly LIVE ! Cheers Peter Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司 on August 05, 2015, 05:30:37 am Dear, Dear Peter,
You misunderstood my two key points. 1. With all due respect, you CAN NOT KNOW what is in another person's heart or mind. So while you see a cold-blooded investor, inside, he may see himself as a true scholar, insofar as his scroll collection is concerned. Or you may be right, but it never hurts to give the benefit of the doubt. 2. I was not referring to you as 'nouveau riche' but to the Modern Chinese, with whom I contrasted the 'Classical Chinese Scholarly' attitude of showing only one or a few at a time, and giving each artwork 'its due' in attention. I should have used the plural (Nouveaux). Sorry. Among Westerners, everyone displays all their art on their walls, unless they have simply too much. I do it myself. That is because we think that we can deal with 'sensory overload'. It is so much more calming to view ONE scroll and one flower arrangement in the tokonoma (niche) of a Zen style tea house, with all the other wall surfaces blank, than to be in my study, with 6 framed objects, artistic or documentary, in front of me (above my computer); and seven more framed pieces to my right; and 22 objects on the walls behind me on the far walls of my study, 15 ft. away (paintings, and Maori weapons and Hawaiian paddles and a feather lei by a master); etc. What makes my study calming, is the 7 ft. (2.10 m) high, almost 6 ft. (1.80 m) wide, 16 paned Georgian style sash window, through which I can see the 200+ year old Weeping Ash tree and shrubbery on my front 'lawn' with the misty background of green mountains in the distance and a lot of grey sky, through the raindrops on the glass. I hope this clears up some of what I perceived as a misunderstanding, though, as I understand the story in the 'Autumn Floods' chapter of The Zhuangzi, while Zhuangzi and Huizi discussed how one could understand the mind of a fish, they really were talking about how can one person know what is in another's heart or mind? ;D Regardless, I love your Song Yiming 'Swimming Carp' bottle! ;) ;D To me, it is definitely one of the finest examples of that genre in any material, snuff bottle, scroll, album leaf or fan, that I've ever seen. And I LOVE 'Fish Swimming' (although Dover Sole grilled with a bit of butter, is a close second! ::)). Best to all, Joey Hi Joey I expected an "instant" reply from you - but not SO instant ! :D The "rich guy" I referred to was no gentlemen collector - he was an investor , purely that I do know another art collector of a different kind (art fabrics) - his collection is now spread over several museums world-wide. Now THAT's a collector I do respect ! As for nouveaux riche ? Whatever are you thinking ? I love my little art collection for it's own sake and for no other reason. Certainly not to show off ! Cheers Peter Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Peter Bentley 彭达理 on August 05, 2015, 10:06:59 pm Hi Joey
Peace dear brother, peace ! . I was just so upset to even see the words "nouveuax riche" next to my name ! . I collected and still live on a pittance :( Cheers Peter Title: Re: The curse and blessing of HK's dirty air Post by: Joey Silver / Si Zhouyi 義周司 on August 06, 2015, 03:23:01 am Dear Peter,
I accept the 'offering of peace', though I offered nothing else. But I feel I must correct you: the term 'N.R.' was not "next to my name"; it was connected to the phrase "modern Chinese". ;) best to you and yours, Joey Hi Joey Peace dear brother, peace ! . I was just so upset to even see the words "nouveuax riche" next to my name ! . I collected and still live on a pittance :( Cheers Peter |