SANYU (1895 or 1901-1966)
1930s The Secret Fish of Sanyu
2020 SOLD for HK$ 170M including premium
Henri-Pierre Roché was a discoverer of talents. He met Chang Yu (Sanyu) in Paris in 1929. Sanyu's artistic potential was considerable, through his desire for independence of style and his knowledge of Chinese culture. It is no coincidence that Sanyu used oil on canvas for the first time in the same year.
Sanyu already had a temperamental personality. He was jealous of his art which he believed deserved to be better paid. After a phase of high creativity, he had to face great difficulties after the death of his brother in 1931 and soon broke up with Roché.
Goldfish, oil on canvas 74 x 50 cm, is a synthesis of Sanyu's artistic research. Eight fish swim in a transparent glass cylindrical aquarium placed on a tablecloth, in front of a saturated coral-colored wall.
The extreme simplicity of the composition could be compared to the art of Matisse. The other evocations are Chinese. The number 8 and the fish are omen of prosperity. The signs scattered on the tablecloth remind that just before meeting Roché, Sanyu wanted to apply the techniques of calligraphy to his drawings. The varied positions of the fish is similar to the Jiajing jars with an interesting difference in the variety of individual colors.
Goldfish is not dated, as are most of those Sanyu's works that have not been entrusted to Roché. The first known owner of this painting is his friend Robert Frank, whom Sanyu did not meet until 1948, a time when he was concerned with promoting his ping-tennis. Goldfish, which is one of the most intimate examples of Sanyu's sensibility, had probably been painted in one of his most enthusiastic periods and kept for many years in the secret of his studio. No other eight fish composition is known.
Goldfish was sold for HK $ 67M including premium by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013, lot 7, and is estimated HK $ 120M for sale by Christie's in Hong Kong on December 2, lot 800.
Sanyu already had a temperamental personality. He was jealous of his art which he believed deserved to be better paid. After a phase of high creativity, he had to face great difficulties after the death of his brother in 1931 and soon broke up with Roché.
Goldfish, oil on canvas 74 x 50 cm, is a synthesis of Sanyu's artistic research. Eight fish swim in a transparent glass cylindrical aquarium placed on a tablecloth, in front of a saturated coral-colored wall.
The extreme simplicity of the composition could be compared to the art of Matisse. The other evocations are Chinese. The number 8 and the fish are omen of prosperity. The signs scattered on the tablecloth remind that just before meeting Roché, Sanyu wanted to apply the techniques of calligraphy to his drawings. The varied positions of the fish is similar to the Jiajing jars with an interesting difference in the variety of individual colors.
Goldfish is not dated, as are most of those Sanyu's works that have not been entrusted to Roché. The first known owner of this painting is his friend Robert Frank, whom Sanyu did not meet until 1948, a time when he was concerned with promoting his ping-tennis. Goldfish, which is one of the most intimate examples of Sanyu's sensibility, had probably been painted in one of his most enthusiastic periods and kept for many years in the secret of his studio. No other eight fish composition is known.
Goldfish was sold for HK $ 67M including premium by Sotheby's on October 5, 2013, lot 7, and is estimated HK $ 120M for sale by Christie's in Hong Kong on December 2, lot 800.
1931 The Pink Period of Sanyu
2020 SOLD for HK$ 138M including premium
Sanyu understood in 1929 that oil painting was the best suited technique to his creativity. With his drawings, he had applied the simplification of forms to various themes, including the female nude he had discovered in Paris. He will paint directly on the canvas without a sketch, like Chinese calligraphers are doing on paper.
His artistic vision is highly original. The precision of the line offsets the succinctness. The colors are limited to the extreme. The application to colors of the Chinese principle of five inks also makes it possible to reduce contrasts : with a single pigment, the variation in colors is obtained by differences in thickness.
At first, the pink color provides the best demonstration of these new theories. It is common to the most beautiful flowers and to the skin of women, and its contrast with the white can achieve great subtlety. A very dark navy blue or a black brings a three-dimensionality. Most of the works from this period have belonged to Roché.
On December 2 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells Chrysanthèmes blanches, oil on canvas 46 x 27 cm painted in 1929, lot 122 estimated HK $ 10M. The large flowers and their pot are painted in pure white on a pale pink background. The geometries are simple.
Also painted in 1929, a study of roses in a white pitcher on a white background, oil on canvas 73 x 50 cm, was sold for HK $ 59M including premium by Poly on October 5, 2015. Here are three results including premium for oils on canvas painted in 1931 in a similar style :
Deux gros hortensias roses dans un vase blanc, 73 x 50 cm, was sold for € 4.1M by Aguttes on June 1, 2015. Chrysanthèmes roses dans un vase blanc, 100 x 70 cm, was sold for HK $ 55M by Poly on April 3, 2017 and Bouquet de roses dans un vase blanc, 81 x 50 cm, for HK $ 47M by Christie's on November 22, 2014.
These studies are encouraging. Sanyu is now introducing new colors in his pictures of flowers, but always in limited numbers on one canvas. Non-essential parts of the image are drawn in very simplified broad lines.
Bouquet de marguerites, 81 x 45 cm painted in January 1931, was sold for HK $ 51M including premium by Christie's on November 25, 2017. Chrysanthèmes roses dans une corbeille, oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm painted in 1931 which had not been owned by Roché, is estimated HK $ 68M by Christie's in the same auction as above, lot 123.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
1929 SOLD for HK$ 23M
1931 SOLD for HK$ 138M
His artistic vision is highly original. The precision of the line offsets the succinctness. The colors are limited to the extreme. The application to colors of the Chinese principle of five inks also makes it possible to reduce contrasts : with a single pigment, the variation in colors is obtained by differences in thickness.
At first, the pink color provides the best demonstration of these new theories. It is common to the most beautiful flowers and to the skin of women, and its contrast with the white can achieve great subtlety. A very dark navy blue or a black brings a three-dimensionality. Most of the works from this period have belonged to Roché.
On December 2 in Hong Kong, Christie's sells Chrysanthèmes blanches, oil on canvas 46 x 27 cm painted in 1929, lot 122 estimated HK $ 10M. The large flowers and their pot are painted in pure white on a pale pink background. The geometries are simple.
Also painted in 1929, a study of roses in a white pitcher on a white background, oil on canvas 73 x 50 cm, was sold for HK $ 59M including premium by Poly on October 5, 2015. Here are three results including premium for oils on canvas painted in 1931 in a similar style :
Deux gros hortensias roses dans un vase blanc, 73 x 50 cm, was sold for € 4.1M by Aguttes on June 1, 2015. Chrysanthèmes roses dans un vase blanc, 100 x 70 cm, was sold for HK $ 55M by Poly on April 3, 2017 and Bouquet de roses dans un vase blanc, 81 x 50 cm, for HK $ 47M by Christie's on November 22, 2014.
These studies are encouraging. Sanyu is now introducing new colors in his pictures of flowers, but always in limited numbers on one canvas. Non-essential parts of the image are drawn in very simplified broad lines.
Bouquet de marguerites, 81 x 45 cm painted in January 1931, was sold for HK $ 51M including premium by Christie's on November 25, 2017. Chrysanthèmes roses dans une corbeille, oil on canvas 92 x 60 cm painted in 1931 which had not been owned by Roché, is estimated HK $ 68M by Christie's in the same auction as above, lot 123.
RESULTS INCLUDING PREMIUM
1929 SOLD for HK$ 23M
1931 SOLD for HK$ 138M
1931 The Trusting Leopard
2017 SOLD for HK$ 80M including premium
Born in a family of wealthy silk industrialists, Sanyu had early skills for black ink and calligraphy. He developed his personal art in Paris by drawing the nude bodies of the women with a minimalist undulating line that accentuated the erotic invitation.
Supported by Henri-Pierre Roché from 1929 to 1932, Sanyu perfected his oil painting, experienced the drypoint engraving and found other themes.
On September 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 1018Léopard, an oil on canvas 93 x 116 cm painted in 1931 which had originally belonged to Roché. The near life size leopard is sketched by the white lines delineating the body and by the circles of the spots in a figure that hardly stands out from a black background interspersed with irregular white stripes.
The four legs and the tail upwards, the wild animal offers its belly in the attitude of a trusting cat requesting a caress. At that time of crisis when financial difficulties arise for Sanyu, this artwork transposes his desire for a cosy well-being.
Accumulating the originality of the camouflaged line, the large size, the attitude of joy, the joint inspiration from classical China and modern Art Déco and the minimalism of black and white, this nice feline has few equivalents in the art of Sanyu. The auction house does not reveal the estimate.
Please watch the short video shared by Sotheby's.
Supported by Henri-Pierre Roché from 1929 to 1932, Sanyu perfected his oil painting, experienced the drypoint engraving and found other themes.
On September 30 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 1018Léopard, an oil on canvas 93 x 116 cm painted in 1931 which had originally belonged to Roché. The near life size leopard is sketched by the white lines delineating the body and by the circles of the spots in a figure that hardly stands out from a black background interspersed with irregular white stripes.
The four legs and the tail upwards, the wild animal offers its belly in the attitude of a trusting cat requesting a caress. At that time of crisis when financial difficulties arise for Sanyu, this artwork transposes his desire for a cosy well-being.
Accumulating the originality of the camouflaged line, the large size, the attitude of joy, the joint inspiration from classical China and modern Art Déco and the minimalism of black and white, this nice feline has few equivalents in the art of Sanyu. The auction house does not reveal the estimate.
Please watch the short video shared by Sotheby's.
1955 Five Demoiselles
2019 SOLD for HK$ 304M including premium
When he quarreled with Roché in 1932, Sanyu lost his chances of a commercial recognition of his art. After the second world war, his works become more experimental, in search of a perfection that would mix the pictorial traditions of East and West. Most of his paintings from this period are made on masonite, which had the advantage of being cheap.
Cinq Nus, oil on masonite 120 x 172 cm, is one of the largest formats painted by the artist. The style is recognizable with its flat colors delimited by simplified curves. The nonchalant atmosphere is confirmed by a dog and a cat, both sleeping. This work, however, has several unique features.
The five women form the largest group painted by Sanyu in his career, and the only example with more than two characters in standing position. They are displayed side by side with a different attitude of the legs that evokes four successive phases of a dance before a final turning back. The bodies are not deformed although the heads are small.
The four hair colors of European women are displayed : blond, black, brunette, red. The faces are different from each other. Otherwise, nothing prevents from imagining five images in a row from a single model.
The exceptional size suggests that Sanyu wanted to make it a reference work that could be compared to the most famous paintings of modern art. The Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso and La Danse by Matisse are the two historical examples that stage five naked women, impossible to differentiate from each other in Matisse's case.
The Cinq Nus by Sanyu are made in three colors, pale for the flesh, dark red for the background and bright yellow for the carpet, which also evoke the work of Matisse on the expression of colors. Matisse died in 1954. Antoine Chen, author of a monograph on Sanyu, dates the Cinq Nus of 1955.
Cinq Nus was sold for HK $ 128M including premium by Ravenel on May 30, 2011. I had discussed it before that sale in this column. It is estimated HK $ 250M for sale by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 23, lot 7. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
Cinq Nus, oil on masonite 120 x 172 cm, is one of the largest formats painted by the artist. The style is recognizable with its flat colors delimited by simplified curves. The nonchalant atmosphere is confirmed by a dog and a cat, both sleeping. This work, however, has several unique features.
The five women form the largest group painted by Sanyu in his career, and the only example with more than two characters in standing position. They are displayed side by side with a different attitude of the legs that evokes four successive phases of a dance before a final turning back. The bodies are not deformed although the heads are small.
The four hair colors of European women are displayed : blond, black, brunette, red. The faces are different from each other. Otherwise, nothing prevents from imagining five images in a row from a single model.
The exceptional size suggests that Sanyu wanted to make it a reference work that could be compared to the most famous paintings of modern art. The Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso and La Danse by Matisse are the two historical examples that stage five naked women, impossible to differentiate from each other in Matisse's case.
The Cinq Nus by Sanyu are made in three colors, pale for the flesh, dark red for the background and bright yellow for the carpet, which also evoke the work of Matisse on the expression of colors. Matisse died in 1954. Antoine Chen, author of a monograph on Sanyu, dates the Cinq Nus of 1955.
Cinq Nus was sold for HK $ 128M including premium by Ravenel on May 30, 2011. I had discussed it before that sale in this column. It is estimated HK $ 250M for sale by Christie's in Hong Kong on November 23, lot 7. Please watch the video shared by Christie's.
1950s The Posthumous Fame of Sanyu
2020 SOLD for HK$ 260M including premium
The 1950s were very difficult for Sanyu. Returning to Paris in 1950, he lived with small jobs : painting of furniture, carpentry, promotion of ping pong. He does not forget that he is mostly an artist. He no longer has a customer, but he feels a new maturity in him. Eroticism succeeds innocence. He is much isolated and his works from this period are generally impossible to date with precision.
Sanyu died of gas poisoning in August 1966. He had no heir and his workshop was dispersed in the following month at the Hôtel Drouot. Fortunately, a regular in that auction room named Yves Bideau had the right feeling : he bought the top lots. This event marks the start of the posthumous fame of this artist who had introduced Chinese sensibility into Western art.
Bideau bought in particular Léopard rose, Cinq nus and the ultimate Nu dated 4.1965. The recent results including premium recorded on these lots were respectively HK $ 49M by Sotheby's on March 31, 2018, HK $ 304M by Christie's on November 23, 2019 and HK $ 198M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2019.
On July 8 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 1024 Quatre nus, oil on masonite 100 x 122 cm originally purchased by Bideau at the same Drouot sale.
The four women are reclining side by side on an emerald green background which evokes a quiet nap on the grass on a hot summer day. Two of them chat, breaking away from the usual inactivity of Sanyu's women.
Compared to the standing women of the Cinq nus referred above, the skin color is warm. The same desire to show the diversity of hair colors for European women indicates that these two artworks were conceived for the same series. The eyes are awkward : Sanyu could not convincingly explain why so many of his women are one eyed. These two pieces are to be compared with the desire for an easy life pushed by the cinema in the 1950s.
Sanyu died of gas poisoning in August 1966. He had no heir and his workshop was dispersed in the following month at the Hôtel Drouot. Fortunately, a regular in that auction room named Yves Bideau had the right feeling : he bought the top lots. This event marks the start of the posthumous fame of this artist who had introduced Chinese sensibility into Western art.
Bideau bought in particular Léopard rose, Cinq nus and the ultimate Nu dated 4.1965. The recent results including premium recorded on these lots were respectively HK $ 49M by Sotheby's on March 31, 2018, HK $ 304M by Christie's on November 23, 2019 and HK $ 198M by Sotheby's on October 5, 2019.
On July 8 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sells as lot 1024 Quatre nus, oil on masonite 100 x 122 cm originally purchased by Bideau at the same Drouot sale.
The four women are reclining side by side on an emerald green background which evokes a quiet nap on the grass on a hot summer day. Two of them chat, breaking away from the usual inactivity of Sanyu's women.
Compared to the standing women of the Cinq nus referred above, the skin color is warm. The same desire to show the diversity of hair colors for European women indicates that these two artworks were conceived for the same series. The eyes are awkward : Sanyu could not convincingly explain why so many of his women are one eyed. These two pieces are to be compared with the desire for an easy life pushed by the cinema in the 1950s.
1950s (undated) Nu avec un Pékinois by Sanyu
SOLD for HK$ 105M by Sotheby's
On April 18, 2021 in Hong Kong, Sotheby's sold for HK $ 106M Nu avec un Pékinois, oil on masonite 84 x 122 cm by Sanyu, lot 8004. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The picture features a nude woman and a dog. Both are reclining on the same creamy carpet laid on a dark red floor. Interestingly the position of the dog does not match a tridimensional perspective, demonstrating that the stylized impression is superseding the realism.
The young woman is quietly snoozing, pillowing on an elbow. She is nude but her vulnerable attitude is totally confident in her environment. This impression is reinforced by the little languid dog, acting as a guardian while looking at her. An inactive nude is for Sanyu an artwork in her own right.
The staging of the woman with a foot slightly overlapping the carpet is not unique in the scenes of nudes painted circa the mid 1950s by Sanyu, but this expression of total quietness under the watching of the pet dog is possibly unique. It indeed confirms the inspiration of the artist in his masterpiece of four nudes reclining side by side on a carpet in a similar format, 199 x 122 cm, sold for HK $ 260M by Sotheby's on July 8, 2020.
The dog is identified as a pékinois which is a reference to China in that moment of absolute happiness.
The picture features a nude woman and a dog. Both are reclining on the same creamy carpet laid on a dark red floor. Interestingly the position of the dog does not match a tridimensional perspective, demonstrating that the stylized impression is superseding the realism.
The young woman is quietly snoozing, pillowing on an elbow. She is nude but her vulnerable attitude is totally confident in her environment. This impression is reinforced by the little languid dog, acting as a guardian while looking at her. An inactive nude is for Sanyu an artwork in her own right.
The staging of the woman with a foot slightly overlapping the carpet is not unique in the scenes of nudes painted circa the mid 1950s by Sanyu, but this expression of total quietness under the watching of the pet dog is possibly unique. It indeed confirms the inspiration of the artist in his masterpiece of four nudes reclining side by side on a carpet in a similar format, 199 x 122 cm, sold for HK $ 260M by Sotheby's on July 8, 2020.
The dog is identified as a pékinois which is a reference to China in that moment of absolute happiness.
1950s (undated) White Chrysanthemum by Sanyu
2020 SOLD for HK$ 192M including premium by Christie's
narrated post sale in 2020
Sanyu has always maintained his link between east and west. Chrysanthemum is the best theme to express the cultural difference. In China, it is a symbol of longevity. The ancient Chinese extracted from it a wine which they drank to celebrate autumn. In the same season Europeans sadly use it as a temporary blossom on their graves.
A bouquet of pink chrysanthemums in a white vase, oil on canvas 100 x 76 cm painted in 1931, was sold for HK $ 55M including premium by Poly on April 3, 2017.
In the very difficult years after the war, Sanyu dealt extensively with the theme of the potted chrysanthemum, which undoubtedly brought him comfort. The division of the single trunk into a multitude of branches that rise in parallel towards the ceiling is a mark of vitality and therefore of hope.
The examples below are oils on panel, the main technique used after the war by Sanyu. The works are not dated, and many of them had not been shown during his lifetime, preventing a chronology from being established. The results below include the premium:
RMB 77M by Poly on December 3, 2019 (74 x 53 cm).
HK $ 81M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2014 (130 x 74 cm).
HK $ 53M by Christie's on November 27, 2010 (120 x 90 cm).
The white chrysanthemum is a very rare variant within this series. In the blue and white pot, which as ever symbolizes Chinese art, the plant is entirely white : flowers, leaves and stems. The soil is also white. This color is the symbol of mourning : the Chinese wear white clothes to accompany the deceased towards the supreme purity. The artist probably used it in critical circumstances, either to overcome despair or for a specific mourning.
Chrysanthème blanc, oil on panel 110 x 60 cm, was sold for HK $ 192M by Christie's on July 10, 2020 over a lower estimate of HK $ 60M, lot 121.
A bouquet of pink chrysanthemums in a white vase, oil on canvas 100 x 76 cm painted in 1931, was sold for HK $ 55M including premium by Poly on April 3, 2017.
In the very difficult years after the war, Sanyu dealt extensively with the theme of the potted chrysanthemum, which undoubtedly brought him comfort. The division of the single trunk into a multitude of branches that rise in parallel towards the ceiling is a mark of vitality and therefore of hope.
The examples below are oils on panel, the main technique used after the war by Sanyu. The works are not dated, and many of them had not been shown during his lifetime, preventing a chronology from being established. The results below include the premium:
RMB 77M by Poly on December 3, 2019 (74 x 53 cm).
HK $ 81M by Sotheby's on April 5, 2014 (130 x 74 cm).
HK $ 53M by Christie's on November 27, 2010 (120 x 90 cm).
The white chrysanthemum is a very rare variant within this series. In the blue and white pot, which as ever symbolizes Chinese art, the plant is entirely white : flowers, leaves and stems. The soil is also white. This color is the symbol of mourning : the Chinese wear white clothes to accompany the deceased towards the supreme purity. The artist probably used it in critical circumstances, either to overcome despair or for a specific mourning.
Chrysanthème blanc, oil on panel 110 x 60 cm, was sold for HK $ 192M by Christie's on July 10, 2020 over a lower estimate of HK $ 60M, lot 121.
1950s Fleurs dans un Pot by Sanyu
2020 SOLD for HK$ 187M including premium by Sotheby's
Link to catalogue.
1950s Potted Chrysanthemums by Sanyu
2019 SOLD for RMB 77M including premium by Poly
1950s Chrysanthemum in Moonlight
2021 SOLD for HK$ 119M by Christie's
In the 1950s, while times are hard for him, Sanyu uses the Potted chrysanthemum as a recurring theme for his oil paintings on masonite. Mixing the Chinese traditional symbols with the trends of the abstract expressionism, he endeavors to express the basic human moods by combinations of colors without further researches on the form.
A Potted Chrysanthemum 92 x 48 cm in rare colors was sold twice by Christie's : for HK $ 46M from a lower estimate of HK $ 18M on May 24, 2014, lot 23, and from HK $ 119M from a lower estimate of HK $ 78M on May 24, 2021, lot 26.
The single plant has its leaves and upper stems in various shades of cyan, an unfrequent feature that refers to the intimacy of a moonlight. This impression is reinforced by the indigo and saffron of background and floor. The assumption that it has indeed been painted by night is plausible.
Sanyu made most of his paintings for the needs of his pictural researches. The opus of this sale is an exception. It was purchased to Sanyu at an unidentified date by a former younger classmate at the Grande Chaumière who was desiring to help him. The friend, identified in the catalogue by his initials, was also keen of sketching figures of young women, another preferred theme of Sanyu.
A Potted Chrysanthemum 92 x 48 cm in rare colors was sold twice by Christie's : for HK $ 46M from a lower estimate of HK $ 18M on May 24, 2014, lot 23, and from HK $ 119M from a lower estimate of HK $ 78M on May 24, 2021, lot 26.
The single plant has its leaves and upper stems in various shades of cyan, an unfrequent feature that refers to the intimacy of a moonlight. This impression is reinforced by the indigo and saffron of background and floor. The assumption that it has indeed been painted by night is plausible.
Sanyu made most of his paintings for the needs of his pictural researches. The opus of this sale is an exception. It was purchased to Sanyu at an unidentified date by a former younger classmate at the Grande Chaumière who was desiring to help him. The friend, identified in the catalogue by his initials, was also keen of sketching figures of young women, another preferred theme of Sanyu.
1965 Studies of Pink Legs
2019 SOLD for HK$ 198M including premium
The female nude is a favorite theme to Sanyu. His art is profoundly authentic but integrates also within the Art Déco trends of his youth. The drawings are often erotic but the oil paintings are studies of forms with a deliberately minimalist palette, same as in his potted plants and animals of the same period.
Sanyu was not tempted by total abstraction. The flesh is contained in a black outline which thickens over time. Under the influence of photography, his compositions are freed from the three dimensional space, displaying from the early 1930s an exaggerated preponderance to the legs and narrowing the head.
Throughout his life, Sanyu was exercising his creativity without succeeding in pushing his career. In 1964 the project of a solo exhibition at the National Museum of History in Taipei brought hope for an international recognition. He sent 42 artworks, including a new 47 x 50 cm Nu in oil on paper.
The project is going badly and Sanyu has no longer access to his own works. In April 1965 he compensates for this frustration by making a larger version of his Nu, an oil on masonite 123 x 135 cm. The simplicity of the forms and the monochrome body on a white background bring a fine readability to this work, like a wall poster. It is the central element of a private exhibition in Paris in December 1965.
A pathetic autograph inscription on the back of the masonite testifies that the aging artist felt with this composition the maturity which he had been seeking for several decades and regretted the time lost during the years of poverty. It was too late. He died accidentally in his workshop in August 1966.
This ultimate Nu on masonite will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5, lot 1029. The press release of September 16 announces an estimate in excess of HK $ 150M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
Sanyu was not tempted by total abstraction. The flesh is contained in a black outline which thickens over time. Under the influence of photography, his compositions are freed from the three dimensional space, displaying from the early 1930s an exaggerated preponderance to the legs and narrowing the head.
Throughout his life, Sanyu was exercising his creativity without succeeding in pushing his career. In 1964 the project of a solo exhibition at the National Museum of History in Taipei brought hope for an international recognition. He sent 42 artworks, including a new 47 x 50 cm Nu in oil on paper.
The project is going badly and Sanyu has no longer access to his own works. In April 1965 he compensates for this frustration by making a larger version of his Nu, an oil on masonite 123 x 135 cm. The simplicity of the forms and the monochrome body on a white background bring a fine readability to this work, like a wall poster. It is the central element of a private exhibition in Paris in December 1965.
A pathetic autograph inscription on the back of the masonite testifies that the aging artist felt with this composition the maturity which he had been seeking for several decades and regretted the time lost during the years of poverty. It was too late. He died accidentally in his workshop in August 1966.
This ultimate Nu on masonite will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5, lot 1029. The press release of September 16 announces an estimate in excess of HK $ 150M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1965 Landscape of the Body
2020 SOLD for HK$ 170M including premium
To compensate for Sanyu's disillusionment after the cancellation of a solo exhibition in Taipei which could have ensured his international notoriety, Natacha and Etienne Lévy organize a private exhibition in their residence in Paris from December 17 to 21, 1965.
The invitation is illustrated with the artist's most innovative Nu. The nude woman is reclining with her legs in the foreground. The right leg is raised up to the top of the image like a rocky peak in a traditional Chinese landscape. The breasts and the head form a horizon of hills. This metaphor is perceived more clearly when we consider the swaying of the raised leg and the apparent distance of the head.
Inscribed with a nostalgic autograph comment dated April 1965, this 123 x 135 cm oil on masonite was considered as his ultimate masterpiece. It was sold for HK $ 198M including premium by Sotheby's on October 5, 2019.
The Lévy family preserved photos of their event. Their friend Sanyu appears in a photo in front of another Nu of the same woman, painted in the same minimalist style and to the same scale, with an almost monochrome skin within thick black outlines over a blank background.
In this image, both legs are raised and the left foot is posed like a finial on the right knee. The outline of legs and buttocks now form a square, in an ultimate Chinese refinement that evokes yin and yang. The breasts and head now appear through a triangular opening between the legs. This undated work is almost certainly in the follow of the April 1965 version.
This oil on masonite 125 x 95 cm will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5, 2020, lot 1016.
The invitation is illustrated with the artist's most innovative Nu. The nude woman is reclining with her legs in the foreground. The right leg is raised up to the top of the image like a rocky peak in a traditional Chinese landscape. The breasts and the head form a horizon of hills. This metaphor is perceived more clearly when we consider the swaying of the raised leg and the apparent distance of the head.
Inscribed with a nostalgic autograph comment dated April 1965, this 123 x 135 cm oil on masonite was considered as his ultimate masterpiece. It was sold for HK $ 198M including premium by Sotheby's on October 5, 2019.
The Lévy family preserved photos of their event. Their friend Sanyu appears in a photo in front of another Nu of the same woman, painted in the same minimalist style and to the same scale, with an almost monochrome skin within thick black outlines over a blank background.
In this image, both legs are raised and the left foot is posed like a finial on the right knee. The outline of legs and buttocks now form a square, in an ultimate Chinese refinement that evokes yin and yang. The breasts and head now appear through a triangular opening between the legs. This undated work is almost certainly in the follow of the April 1965 version.
This oil on masonite 125 x 95 cm will be sold by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5, 2020, lot 1016.
