Three Twentieth Century paintings by Qi Baishi brought an impressive $1,629,360 at Kaminski Auctions’ March 30″1 sale. The three were each dedicated to the Emperor Yu San, and came from the collection of Wen Tsan Yu.
For more than 50 years, the collection was held by the prominent Chinese family, which can trace its descent to Moy Toy Ni (Charlie Toy) of Milwaukee, a successful businessman widely known as the Chinese Rockefeller during the early Twentieth Century.
The top lot of the ink and color on paper works depicted plum blossoms and fetched $599,760. It measured 53 by 13¼ inches and handily trumped its $20/30,000 estimate.
The other two works, one depicting chrysanthemums and the other of peonies, were estimated to fetch around $10/15,000, and took in just over $400,000 each, plus the buyer’s premium.
⁆rances Mascolo
