Christie’s exhibits $60m Stradivarius and Guarneri collection in Shanghai and Hong Kong

Christie’s auction house is to stage ‘The Art of Music’, a special exhibition in Shanghai and Hong Kong from 14 October to 29 November. Comprising eight stringed instruments by Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, the seven violins and one cello are drawn from a private European collection and are valued collectively at $60m.

‘The Art of Music represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire some of the greatest violins and cellos still in private hands,’ according to Christie’s. Sponsored by Steinway & Sons, the exhibition will be accompanied by lectures, art forums and recitals, tracing the history of violin making throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, and placing the achievements of Stradivari and Guarneri with a broader cultural context.

The eight instruments are:

Antonio Stradivari ‘du Pré’ cello, 1673

Antonio Stradivari ‘Rosenheim, KochaŠ„ski’ violin, 1686

Antonio Stradivari ‘Muir–Mackenzie’ violin, 1694

Antonio Stradivari ‘Baron von der Leyen, Klaveness’ violin, 1705

Antonio Stradivari ‘Piatti’ violin, 1717

Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù' ‘Kubelík, Von Vecsey’ violin, 1728

Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù' ‘Kathleen Parlow, Viotti’ violin, 1735

Giuseppe Guarneri 'del Gesù' ‘Lafont, Brodsky, Repin’ violin, 1736 (pictured)

The exhibition will also include the opportunity to see the ‘Titian’ Stradivari, on loan from another private collector.

The instruments are also available to view by appointment in New York from 15 September 2015. The Shanghai exhibition takes place 14–24 October 2015 and the Hong Kong exhibition 26–29 November 2015.

For further details visit www.christies.com/artofmusic.