A Century Reunited: Christie’s Hong Kong Restores a Landmark Vision of Chinese Art

There are moments in cultural history when a single gathering shifts the entire trajectory of how an art form is perceived. The Royal Academy's International Exhibition of Chinese Art in 1935–36 was precisely such a moment: a watershed when Western collectors, scholars and institutions began to see Chinese artistic achievement not as historical curiosity but as an equal voice within the global conversation on beauty, craft and meaning.

Nearly ninety years later, Christie's Hong Kong has chosen to revive that vision. Through a pairing of scholarly ambition and curatorial grace, the house has created both a six-volume publication and a physical exhibition that honour the legacy of that pivotal London showing.

The Publication and Its Makers

The scholarly architecture supporting this initiative rests upon '1935: The International Exhibition of Chinese Art', a landmark six-volume publication conceived and published by Daniel Eskenazi, the London-based specialist dealer and authority on Chinese works of art, with research authored by Regina Krahl and Sarah Wong. The volumes represent far more than a catalogue; they constitute a comprehensive reassessment of an exhibition that, in its time, fundamentally altered Western attitudes towards Chinese artistic sophistication.

Eskenazi's involvement signals the seriousness of the undertaking. His decades of scholarship and curation have established him as one of the most respected voices in the field, and his commitment to this project underscores the exhibition's significance within contemporary collecting circles.

The Exhibition: Restoration Through Reunion

Titled 'The Royal Academy International Exhibition of Chinese Art 1935–36: A Commemorative Tribute', the exhibition itself brings together fifteen masterpieces originally shown in that groundbreaking London presentation. To reunite such works nearly a century later, drawn from collections across continents, represents a curatorial achievement of considerable magnitude.

The exhibition provides collectors and scholars an opportunity to experience anew what audiences encountered at the Royal Academy itself: the particular aesthetic vision, the breadth of periods and techniques, the objects that transformed international perception of Chinese art's philosophical depth and technical mastery. Standing before these works gathered once more, one encounters not nostalgia but genuine historical resonance: a moment when East and West met on terms of intellectual equality.

A Milestone Year

The timing carries its own significance. Christie's marks its fortieth anniversary in Asia and its two hundred and sixtieth anniversary globally. Within that context, this tribute to 1935–36 becomes more than a retrospective exercise; it becomes an affirmation of the house's own commitment to positioning Chinese art within its proper place within the international canon of aesthetic achievement.

The evening launch in Hong Kong brought together Eskenazi, leading scholars, collectors and distinguished guests for what was plainly conceived as a scholarly and social milestone. Through November, the exhibition remains open for those wishing to engage with these reunited works and the publications that contextualise them.

What emerges from this initiative is a recognition that certain exhibitions transcend their moment. The Royal Academy's 1935–36 presentation was not merely a show; it was an act of intellectual generosity that altered how the world understood Chinese artistic patrimony. By restoring that vision for contemporary collectors and scholars, Christie's Hong Kong has honoured both the past and the continuing relevance of that transformative exhibition to how we see art across cultures today.

Key Facts

• Exhibition title: The Royal Academy International Exhibition of Chinese Art 1935–36: A Commemorative Tribute
• Publication: 1935: The International Exhibition of Chinese Art (six volumes, published by Daniel Eskenazi, authored by Regina Krahl and Sarah Wong)
• Masterpieces on view: 15 works from the original 1935–36 Royal Academy exhibition
• Location: The Henderson, Hong Kong
• Dates: Through 6 November 2026
• Presented by: Christie's in collaboration with Daniel Eskenazi

The Simply Luxury View

For collectors and institutions invested in Chinese art, this exhibition and publication offer something rare: a direct encounter with one of the twentieth century's most influential curatorial statements, and access to scholarly apparatus that contextualises these works within the history of taste itself. The Royal Academy exhibition of 1935–36 was a turning point in how Western collectors and museums came to recognise Chinese aesthetic sophistication; revisiting it through contemporary scholarship deepens understanding of both the objects themselves and the collectors who initially championed them to Western audiences.

Christie's Asia's milestone anniversaries frame this tribute appropriately. By engaging with historical exhibitions that shaped international collecting, the house reinforces its own role in connecting collectors to objects of significance and to the broader narratives of taste that give such objects meaning. This is curatorship as historical consciousness.

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