New Chinese Painting
See also : Current art Mountains in China Wu Guanzhong
Chronology : 1988 1992 1993 1997 21st century 2001 2006 2010-2019 2017
Chronology : 1988 1992 1993 1997 21st century 2001 2006 2010-2019 2017
1988 The Zen Garden
2019 SOLD for RMB 144M including premium
Wu Guanzhong is the most complete artist of the post-Maoist period. Resolutely modernist and inspired by both East and West, he makes up for the time lost during the Cultural Revolution by treating many themes from realism to abstraction in all the graphic techniques.
Wu begins with a preliminary sketch that allows him to choose between an oil on canvas and an ink on paper which he paints in an impulsive gesture. Looking for the elemental forms that constitute his subject, he reworks his figuration and his color up to an ultimate state. Lion Grove Garden, ink and colors on paper 144 x 297 cm painted in 1988, is an example led by the artist to an almost complete abstraction.
The city of Suzhou, 100 km away from Shanghai, is famous for its gardens, several of which have been classified together as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Lion Grove was created by a Zen monk under the Yuan dynasty and was so named for the likeness of one of its rocks with a reclining lion. The garden is bordered by a pond and includes a grotto.
Wu is interested in this site maintained without religious attributes. His meditation brings a pattern of lines and spots of various colors, superseding the real topography of the rock. Two pavilions and a bridge appear beyond the rock. Simplified shapes simulate visitors in the pavilions and fish in the pond.
The whole is looking like a huge cliff by the sea with boats. The shape predominated the theme, responding to the artist's deepest conceptions. Do not search for the lion.
Lion Grove Garden was sold for RMB 115M including premium by Poly on June 3, 2011 and will be sold on June 2 in Beijing by China Guardian, lot 383.
Wu begins with a preliminary sketch that allows him to choose between an oil on canvas and an ink on paper which he paints in an impulsive gesture. Looking for the elemental forms that constitute his subject, he reworks his figuration and his color up to an ultimate state. Lion Grove Garden, ink and colors on paper 144 x 297 cm painted in 1988, is an example led by the artist to an almost complete abstraction.
The city of Suzhou, 100 km away from Shanghai, is famous for its gardens, several of which have been classified together as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Lion Grove was created by a Zen monk under the Yuan dynasty and was so named for the likeness of one of its rocks with a reclining lion. The garden is bordered by a pond and includes a grotto.
Wu is interested in this site maintained without religious attributes. His meditation brings a pattern of lines and spots of various colors, superseding the real topography of the rock. Two pavilions and a bridge appear beyond the rock. Simplified shapes simulate visitors in the pavilions and fish in the pond.
The whole is looking like a huge cliff by the sea with boats. The shape predominated the theme, responding to the artist's deepest conceptions. Do not search for the lion.
Lion Grove Garden was sold for RMB 115M including premium by Poly on June 3, 2011 and will be sold on June 2 in Beijing by China Guardian, lot 383.
1992 Hospital by Zeng Fanzhi
2013 SOLD for HK$ 113M by Christie's
When Zeng Fanzhi left the art school, he was much influenced by expressionism. The society of humans is cruel, and painting shall not be complacent.
In 1992, aged 28, he took as a theme the hospital of incurable illness (Xiehe hospital) close to his home in Wuhan. Many patients without psychological identification are queuing for their drug, infusion or injection. The mind of each of them is focused on the vain hope brought by the therapy.
Same as the German characters by Dix, Grosz or Beckmann, these Chinese men are ugly in their banality. Their life is already artificial. Zeng will soon afterwards vary the message by the unlimited possibilities of the theme of the mask.
For displaying his tragic vision of mankind through the hospital, Zeng made three triptychs in oil on canvas. The very morbid second panel, 179 x 465 cm overall, was sold for £ 2.76M by Phillips de Pury on October 13, 2007. Its central panel refers to the Christian Pieta.
The Hospital Triptych No. 3, 150 x 345 cm overall, was sold by Christie's for HK $ 113M in November 23, 2013, lot 50 and for HK $ 48M on May 26, 2022, lot 54.
The side panels narrate the donation and transfusion of blood. The central panel displays a long table with seated doctors which is an early hint by the artist to the Last Supper of Christ.
In 1992, aged 28, he took as a theme the hospital of incurable illness (Xiehe hospital) close to his home in Wuhan. Many patients without psychological identification are queuing for their drug, infusion or injection. The mind of each of them is focused on the vain hope brought by the therapy.
Same as the German characters by Dix, Grosz or Beckmann, these Chinese men are ugly in their banality. Their life is already artificial. Zeng will soon afterwards vary the message by the unlimited possibilities of the theme of the mask.
For displaying his tragic vision of mankind through the hospital, Zeng made three triptychs in oil on canvas. The very morbid second panel, 179 x 465 cm overall, was sold for £ 2.76M by Phillips de Pury on October 13, 2007. Its central panel refers to the Christian Pieta.
The Hospital Triptych No. 3, 150 x 345 cm overall, was sold by Christie's for HK $ 113M in November 23, 2013, lot 50 and for HK $ 48M on May 26, 2022, lot 54.
The side panels narrate the donation and transfusion of blood. The central panel displays a long table with seated doctors which is an early hint by the artist to the Last Supper of Christ.
1993 Warm Spring in the Jade Pavilion by Chen Yifei
2017 SOLD for RMB 150M by China Guardian
Chen Yifei loved pretty women and beautiful clothes. Trained in oil painting by a Soviet artist, he abandons without regret the political themes after the Cultural Revolution but maintains a fully realistic line with shimmering colors.
Returning to Shanghai in 1990 after ten years in the United States, he observes that women are badly dressed. He will devote a considerable energy to remedy it while reviving ancient traditions.
He paints groups of beauties who would have their place in a fashion show. He also became a filmmaker, created the Layefe brand first for elegant and affordable clothing and then also for interior design, piloted a model agency and died of overwork in 2005.
In his paintings graceful women let themselves be quietly admired in the manner of the Japanese geishas.
Warm Spring in the Jade Pavilion was sold for RMB 150M by China Guardian on December 19, 2017. It was shared post sale by China Daily. This oil painting i170 x 244 cm executed in 1993 is depicting the life in Shanghai in the 1930s with many characters gathering around a tea table.
Returning to Shanghai in 1990 after ten years in the United States, he observes that women are badly dressed. He will devote a considerable energy to remedy it while reviving ancient traditions.
He paints groups of beauties who would have their place in a fashion show. He also became a filmmaker, created the Layefe brand first for elegant and affordable clothing and then also for interior design, piloted a model agency and died of overwork in 2005.
In his paintings graceful women let themselves be quietly admired in the manner of the Japanese geishas.
Warm Spring in the Jade Pavilion was sold for RMB 150M by China Guardian on December 19, 2017. It was shared post sale by China Daily. This oil painting i170 x 244 cm executed in 1993 is depicting the life in Shanghai in the 1930s with many characters gathering around a tea table.
1994 Two Swallows by Wu Guanzhong
2018 SOLD for RMB 113M by Poly
Shuangyan, better described as Two swallows, was a favorite modernist theme of Wu Guanzhong, conceived by him in 1981 during a sketching visit in Suzhou with his students.
It features a range of five low Jiangnan dwellings with white walls integrating a few narrow black doors and a single tiny window near the right side. These minimalist buildings reflect in a waterway. The only living beings is a pair of swallows coming and going in the blue sky in a varying position from an opus to another. The roofs are made of a single narrow black line. A tree marks the spring calling and a stone bench is empty. Some steps dive into the water.
Two examples were sold by Poly on December 6, 2018. An ink on paper 69 x 137 cm made in 1988 was sold for RMB 54M, lot 3202. An oil on canvas 69 x 140 cm painted in 1994 was sold for RMB 113M, lot 3203. It is illustrated in the post sale report by China Daily.
The blind walls bring the impression that the house is not finished. The rectangular shapes and the contrasts supersede the realism. The swallows are a reminiscence of Wu's happy childhood in his beloved Jiangnan.
An undated ink and color on paper of same size titled Spring Calling was sold for HK $ 17.5M by Christie's on May 31, 2011, lot 2771.
It features a range of five low Jiangnan dwellings with white walls integrating a few narrow black doors and a single tiny window near the right side. These minimalist buildings reflect in a waterway. The only living beings is a pair of swallows coming and going in the blue sky in a varying position from an opus to another. The roofs are made of a single narrow black line. A tree marks the spring calling and a stone bench is empty. Some steps dive into the water.
Two examples were sold by Poly on December 6, 2018. An ink on paper 69 x 137 cm made in 1988 was sold for RMB 54M, lot 3202. An oil on canvas 69 x 140 cm painted in 1994 was sold for RMB 113M, lot 3203. It is illustrated in the post sale report by China Daily.
The blind walls bring the impression that the house is not finished. The rectangular shapes and the contrasts supersede the realism. The swallows are a reminiscence of Wu's happy childhood in his beloved Jiangnan.
An undated ink and color on paper of same size titled Spring Calling was sold for HK $ 17.5M by Christie's on May 31, 2011, lot 2771.
1997 The Zhou Village by Wu Guanzhong
2016 SOLD for HK$ 236M including premium by Poly
narrated in 2020
Wu Guanzhong is a full range artist who integrated tradition and modernism. After the torments of the Cultural Revolution, he endeavored to make people love his native region, Jiangnan, south of the Yangtze River. He observes landscapes and villages by bringing the utmost importance to their geometric decomposition.
Suzhou is a big city enjoying 2,500 years of history. Wu took in 1983 as one of his favorite themes the Lion Grove Garden, with a texture of rocks that reaches the limits of abstraction. An ink and colors on paper 144 x 297 cm painted in 1988 was sold for RMB 144M including premium by China Guardian on June 2, 2019.
The Zhou village is also located in Suzhou. On April 4, 2016, Poly sold for HK $ 236M including premium a painting 148 x 297 cm made in 1997, which transposed to oil an ink and colors made in 1986. It is illustrated in the report of the sale shared by Art Market Monitor.
The old village is appealing to tourists, with its pattern of houses huddled together. Suzhou is the Venice of the East which amazed Marco Polo with its canals crossed by a multitude of small stone bridges.
The image is seen in a slightly plunging perspective. The village is symmetrical, with its central axis on the very narrow street leading to the bridge. The edge of the canal and the horizon form an oval, like in a fish eye photo. This harmony of curves is reinforced by the arched shapes of the bridge.
Suzhou is a big city enjoying 2,500 years of history. Wu took in 1983 as one of his favorite themes the Lion Grove Garden, with a texture of rocks that reaches the limits of abstraction. An ink and colors on paper 144 x 297 cm painted in 1988 was sold for RMB 144M including premium by China Guardian on June 2, 2019.
The Zhou village is also located in Suzhou. On April 4, 2016, Poly sold for HK $ 236M including premium a painting 148 x 297 cm made in 1997, which transposed to oil an ink and colors made in 1986. It is illustrated in the report of the sale shared by Art Market Monitor.
The old village is appealing to tourists, with its pattern of houses huddled together. Suzhou is the Venice of the East which amazed Marco Polo with its canals crossed by a multitude of small stone bridges.
The image is seen in a slightly plunging perspective. The village is symmetrical, with its central axis on the very narrow street leading to the bridge. The edge of the canal and the horizon form an oval, like in a fish eye photo. This harmony of curves is reinforced by the arched shapes of the bridge.
2001 The Traitor with the Yellow Tie
2013 SOLD 180 MHK$ including premium
The mask in the series of paintings by Zeng Fanzhi is used to express what is artificial in the integration of young Chinese into globalization.
The mask is worn by a single character or by all characters in a group. In the latter case, the political message of the artist becomes stronger and more readable.
On 24 May 2008, Christie's sold HK $ 75M including premium Mask Series 1996 No. 6, oil on canvas 200 x 360 cm. Eight Chinese are aligned and facing the viewer as happy members of a winning sports team. The smile is an effect brought by the mask, but the red scarf recalls the harsh realities of their social condition.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells The Last Supper. This oil on canvas was painted in 2001 in large format, 220 x 400 cm. This is in some way the political and artistic culmination of the entire Mask series, and the auction house expects more than HK $ 80M. The artwork comes from the Ullens collection. It is illustrated on the release shared by ArtDaily.
It is a remake of Leonardo's Last Supper. Behind the masks, the thirteen characters are young Chinese, still recognizable by their red scarves. The traitor has no scarf but a golden tie. He has already decided to imitate the West and sell himself to capitalists.
The next step could be a question: who is right between the twelve traditionalists and the traitor, regarding the development of contemporary Chinese civilization?
POST SALE COMMENT
Introduced as the culmination of the first part of Zeng's career, this painting was sold for HK $ 180M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
The mask is worn by a single character or by all characters in a group. In the latter case, the political message of the artist becomes stronger and more readable.
On 24 May 2008, Christie's sold HK $ 75M including premium Mask Series 1996 No. 6, oil on canvas 200 x 360 cm. Eight Chinese are aligned and facing the viewer as happy members of a winning sports team. The smile is an effect brought by the mask, but the red scarf recalls the harsh realities of their social condition.
On October 5 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells The Last Supper. This oil on canvas was painted in 2001 in large format, 220 x 400 cm. This is in some way the political and artistic culmination of the entire Mask series, and the auction house expects more than HK $ 80M. The artwork comes from the Ullens collection. It is illustrated on the release shared by ArtDaily.
It is a remake of Leonardo's Last Supper. Behind the masks, the thirteen characters are young Chinese, still recognizable by their red scarves. The traitor has no scarf but a golden tie. He has already decided to imitate the West and sell himself to capitalists.
The next step could be a question: who is right between the twelve traditionalists and the traitor, regarding the development of contemporary Chinese civilization?
POST SALE COMMENT
Introduced as the culmination of the first part of Zeng's career, this painting was sold for HK $ 180M including premium.
I invite you to play the video shared by Sotheby's.
CUI RUZHUO
1
2006 Landscape in Snow
2014 SOLD for HK$ 184M by Poly
Cui Ruzhuo assembles polyptychs composed of vertical panels painted in line and wash on paper in his signature finger ink technique. A single monumental work may occupy a full wall in an exhibition.
The themes chosen by Cui appeal to the Chinese sensitivity. His favorite is the unlimited landscape of snowy mountains, eternally indifferent to men.
Landscape in snow, painted in 2006, was sold for HK $ 184M by Poly on April 7, 2014, lot 2017.
This ink and color on paper is an unfragmented hand scroll 64 cm x 36 m plus a frontispiece.
The themes chosen by Cui appeal to the Chinese sensitivity. His favorite is the unlimited landscape of snowy mountains, eternally indifferent to men.
Landscape in snow, painted in 2006, was sold for HK $ 184M by Poly on April 7, 2014, lot 2017.
This ink and color on paper is an unfragmented hand scroll 64 cm x 36 m plus a frontispiece.
2
2011 Lotus
2011 SOLD for HK$ 124M by Christie's
Cui Ruzhuo assembles polyptychs composed of vertical panels painted in line and wash on paper in his signature finger ink technique. A single monumental work may occupy a full wall in an exhibition.
The themes chosen by Cui appeal to the Chinese sensitivity. On the theme of the lotus, a set of eight scrolls 247 x 123 cm each was sold at lot 2237 for HK $ 124M from a lower estimate of HK $ 40M by Christie's on 29 November 2011. The lotus are drawn with distorted shapes.
This work is dated from early summer xinmao year matching 2011 CE, a few months before its auction.
The themes chosen by Cui appeal to the Chinese sensitivity. On the theme of the lotus, a set of eight scrolls 247 x 123 cm each was sold at lot 2237 for HK $ 124M from a lower estimate of HK $ 40M by Christie's on 29 November 2011. The lotus are drawn with distorted shapes.
This work is dated from early summer xinmao year matching 2011 CE, a few months before its auction.
3
2013 The Grand Snowing Mountains
2016 SOLD for HK$ 307M by Poly
The Grand Snowing Mountains, inspired by Jiangnan, was painted in ink and color on paper by Cui in 2013.
It was probably unpaid after being sold by Poly on April 7, 2013 for HK $ 236M, lot 2314, just after being prepared as a set of eight mounted panels 292 x 143 cm.
It was sold at the same venue on April 4, 2016 for HK $ 307M from a lower estimate of HK $ 150M as a mounted set of six for an overall 300 x 870 cm, lot 1213.
The similarity between the two lots leaves no doubt that it is the same piece.
It was probably unpaid after being sold by Poly on April 7, 2013 for HK $ 236M, lot 2314, just after being prepared as a set of eight mounted panels 292 x 143 cm.
It was sold at the same venue on April 4, 2016 for HK $ 307M from a lower estimate of HK $ 150M as a mounted set of six for an overall 300 x 870 cm, lot 1213.
The similarity between the two lots leaves no doubt that it is the same piece.
4
2017 Twelve Screens of Landscape
2017 SOLD for RMB 240M by Poly
A set of twelve painted in 2017 by Cui was sold for RMB 240M by Poly in December 2017.
It is illustrated in the post sale report shared by The Value. The reported title, Twelve screens of finger ink landscape, refers to the Cui's signature painting technique.
It is illustrated in the post sale report shared by The Value. The reported title, Twelve screens of finger ink landscape, refers to the Cui's signature painting technique.
