Page 9 - Sotheby's Part I Collection of Sir Joeseph Hotung Collection CHINESE ART , Oct. 9, 2022

SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG

Regina Krahl
International Research Consultant

Joseph Hotung Centre for Ceramic Studies, which includes project was worthwhile and the persons in charge were capable,
ruly great art collections reflect truly great personalities. mesmerised by tales of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms a fabulous gallery for the David collection, opened in 2009. he attentively followed their progress, but never interfered. In
Sir Joseph Hotung assembled a large family of art works which inspired me with stories of valour, honour and loyalty. According to his wishes, the largest part of his collections of 1993 he was knighted for his charitable activities.
Tfrom different places, periods and media that lived in his The purchase of this piece led to an interest in Yuan dynasty Chinese jades and early blue-and-white porcelains is going
residence in congenial harmony. The opposite of ostentatious, Sir Joseph wares. I was struck by the power to the British Museum. As a collector – and not only there – Sir Joseph was a totally
They share a rare quality and was a naturally impressive personality, and strength of the pieces and independent mind. Pieces had to strike a chord with him, they
beauty, an unassuming nobility this led to the formation of the Philanthropy is not simply a had to be inhabited with a bold
and an unquestionable eminence who radiated a dignity that made collection.” A bit over a decade question of distributing money; Pieces had to strike a chord with him, energy, a vitality that made them
and as such are simply material conversations stop when he entered a later, Sir Joseph had built up an philanthropy is an art in itself. Sir come alive and revealed the hand
witnesses of Sir Joseph’s character, room. unmatched assemblage of some Joseph Hotung mastered this they had to be inhabited with a bold of a master; if they did, he could
discernment and style. The of the best pieces there are. art to perfection. He had a keen energy, a vitality that made them come pursue them with unambiguous
opposite of ostentatious, Sir Joseph was a naturally impressive interest in improving lives and alive and revealed the hand of a master. verve, if not, nothing and nobody
personality, who radiated a dignity that made conversations stop His own quest to learn about the art he collected led to his circumstances, to make changes could persuade him that a piece
when he entered a room. museum patronage, but his philanthropy had started much for the better, but went about it in such a modest, low-key was worth acquiring. He had an unfailing instinct to choose
earlier and went much further. He himself described his focus as manner, that even friends could not know the full story and great art, independent of fashions and market considerations,
The works he selected surrounded him in his daily life. English “human rights, health, education and the arts”. He participated in his obituaries tended only to skim the surface. He was little and the collection bears his distinct imprint. His personality,
furniture and French silver went with Impressionist art, where a think-tank to foster peace in the Middle East and established interested in, not to say irritated by, the notoriety and fame connoisseurship and his style will make ‘The Sir Joseph
he was particularly drawn to Édouard Vuillard; Ming hardwood a Chair to that end at the School of Law, SOAS, London his various activities entailed, but he enjoyed the ensuing Hotung Collection’ one of the coveted provenances for works
furniture was juxtaposed with Chinese ink paintings, with a University. Of the various research projects he funded at St exchanges with noted academics, with whom he even took of art, like those of the great British collectors of the early 20th
favourite spot reserved for a small Yuan-style album leaf with George’s University Hospital, London, which he endowed with educational trips, particularly to the Middle East and the Arab century, no matter whether the items will end up in museums
melons. His own background obviously made him receptive of two Chairs, one led to promising progress in the prevention of world. He was the dream donor; once he had decided that a or in private hands.
Chinese works of art, but he could also fall in love with a Degas HIV transmission. Besides several other universities in the US, the UK
painting or a Giacometti drawing, be fascinated by Persian and and in Hong Kong he supported, he was instrumental in setting
Syrian works, or galvanized by a Sri Lankan gilt-bronze goddess up the pre-university Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education.
and a Benin bronze head, but only if they had an exceptional Classical music at the London Philharmonic Orchestra benefitted
presence. In two areas, he went deeper. from his arts patronage, although the bulk was directed towards the
visual arts, foremost at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
His search for Chinese works of art began in the late 1970s with Asia Society, New York, and the British Museum, London, all of whom
Qing jades. Encouraged by Robert H. (Bob) Ellsworth, it soon won him as Trustee, but also at the Shanghai Museum, where the jade
grew to cover the full jade story, from the earliest beginnings in gallery bears his name. Besides his many financial donations, he gave
the Neolithic onwards, a period he came to admire greatly. By generously of his time, in spite of a busy professional life, advising both
the time Jessica Rawson published over three hundred of his financial and cultural institutions as a board member.
jades (Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London,
1995) on the occasion of their exhibition at the British Museum, The British Museum benefitted particularly and in many ways
they formed a world-class collection. from his generosity, most notably through the establishment
of The Joseph E. Hotung Gallery of Oriental Antiquities,
His second major love in art, very different from the first, started refurbished through his patronage in 1992, and renamed
in 1994 with a coup de foudre. Here, no guide was necessary, after another complete renovation in 2017 The Sir Joseph
it was an object that managed to speak to him directly. Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia, both times opened
His fascination with a jar of Yuan blue-and-white porcelain by Her Majesty The Queen. When the future of the Percival
depicting a scene from the drama David collection in London
San guo yan yi (Romance of Philanthropy is not simply a question of hung in the balance, Sir Joseph
the Three Kingdoms) he later distributing money; philanthropy is an art fervently lobbied for a transfer
described thus: “At the time we to the British Museum, against The Queen with Sir Joseph Hotung © Benedict Johnson
bought the San guo jar it evoked in itself. Sir Joseph Hotung mastered this much opposition, even though
memories of my youth when I was art to perfection. he offered the funding. The Sir ߵɾˮၾОᒿࡠᐌɻ © Benedict Johnson

16 I FOR COMPLETE CATALOGUING ༉းྡ፽ʫ࢙ሗᓭᚎ SOTHEBYS.COM/HK1293 THE PERSONAL COLLECTION OF THE LATE SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG I 17