“The Wheel of Time” by Wallace Chan at Christie’s, London

Free and open to the public, The Wheel of Time premieres at Christie’s King Street headquarters in London, where it will be on view from September 4-10. This exhibition is the fifth that Christie’s has presented in collaboration with Wallace Chan, following previous shows in Hong Kong (2015, 2019) and Shanghai (2020, 2021). The majority of pieces on display, created during the past half-century, are generously on loan from many of Chan’s major international collectors.

The Wheel of Time serves as a metaphor for Chan’s labour-intensive working process, requiring meticulous attention to detail. His art embraces traditional aspects of Chinese aesthetics, combined with respect for the intrinsic qualities of his working materials, the unique skill employed in carving them, and the element of time involved in their creation. A highlight of the exhibition will be Legend of the Colour Black, a remarkable black diamond shoulder brooch sculpture. The impressive centre stone of the piece, one of the largest known cut black diamonds in the world, weighs 312.24 carats, alongside silver grey diamonds, crystal sapphire, black agate, titanium and the Wallace Chan Porcelain, a material Chan has spent years developing which is five times stronger than steel.

Another notable piece is The Joy of Life brooch, featuring one of Chan’s most important motifs—a mesmerising butterfly—comprised of pink sapphire, sapphire, tsavorite garnet, diamond, yellow diamond, pearl and titanium.

Mei Y Giam, Christie’s Private Sales Director, Jewellery: “We are delighted to bring Wallace Chan’s imagination to London and present this unique exhibition celebrating five decades of artistic excellence. Our fifth collaboration with Chan reaffirms Christie’s longstanding relationship with the artist, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to the exhibition.”

François Curiel, Chairman, Christie’s Europe: “A deeply philosophical man, Wallace infuses his jewels with Oriental spiritualism. This is the motif which he spends his entire creative life interpreting and reinterpreting, experimenting with endless combinations of gemstones, mediums, styles, aesthetics, and executed in his world- renowned techniques.”

Wallace Chan: “In the blink of an eye, half a century has flown by. I am humbled by the opportunity to present my largest exhibition in Europe at Christie’s in London. My heartfelt thanks go to Christie’s for supporting my creative journey throughout the years and across the globe. I am also grateful to my long term collectors for loaning the pieces, without their friendship the exhibition would not be possible. Time is an eternal wheel that rotates for infinity with neither beginning nor end. In the creative process, time is a theme so intangible, yet omnificent.”

Guillaume Cerutti, CEO, Christie’s: “Christie’s is committed to supporting great artists and the evolution of their work. We hope collectors and art enthusiasts around the world will be enriched by this rare retrospective of Wallace Chan.”

About Wallace Chan

Beginning with his role as a carver in 1973, Wallace Chan’s creative career spans over half a century. The Hong-Kong based, self-trained artist has gained worldwide recognition for pioneering titanium’s unprecedented use in art. His material-focused practice encompasses jewellery, sculpture and carving, and has led to the creation of numerous innovations, including The Wallace Cut (1987), a patented jade technique (2002) and The Wallace Chan Porcelain (2018). His works are housed permanently in collections across the world, including Long Museum (Shanghai), Museum of Fine Arts Boston, The British Museum (London) and Capital Museum (Beijing).

For Wallace Chan, jewellery is more than adornment – it is a storyteller, a carrier of heritage, a reflection of the times and a way of realising his dreams. Gemstones are his language, and through them he translates the messages of our universe. Wallace Chan’s passions for art, nature, culture, philosophy, technology and change drive his creation of one-of-a-kind pieces that define today’s spirit and transcend the boundaries of contemporary jewellery.

About Christie’s

• Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of  global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. In 2023, Christie’s celebrates its 10th anniversary as the first international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).

• Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 8 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, including the Paul G. Allen Collection—the most valuable collection ever offered at auction (November 2022). In recent years, Christie’s also achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction (Leonardo  da Vinci’s  Salvator Mundi, 2017), for a 20th century artwork ( Andy Warhol’ s  Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 2022) and for a work by a living artist (Jeff  Koons’  Rabbit, 2019). Christie’s Private Sales offers a seamless service for buying and selling art, jewellery and watches outside of the auction calendar, working exclusively with Christie’s specialists at a client’s individual pace.  

• Following the groundbreaking 2021 sale of the first digital art NFT ever offered by a global auction house (Beeple’s Everydays), Christie’s recently launched the first fully on-chain auction platform dedicated to exceptional NFT art. As an industry leader in digital innovation, Christie’s also continues to pioneer new technologies that are redefining the business of art, including the use of hologram technology to tour life-size 3D objects around the world, and the creation of viewing and bidding experiences that integrate augmented reality, global livestreaming, buy-now channels, and hybrid sales formats.
• Christie’s is dedicated to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide, including achieving sustainability by reducing our carbon emissions by 50% and pledging to be net zero by 2030, and actively using its platform in the art world to amplify under-represented voices and support positive change. 

For more information, please visit https://www.christies.com/events/wallace-chan-the-wheel-of-time/about