SANYU (1901-1966)
1929 The White Pitchers of Sanyu
2015 SOLD for HK$ 59M including premium
Life is not always easy for a young Chinese artist in exile in Paris. For Sanyu, the meeting with Henri-Pierre Roché in 1929 was providential although not enough to protect him from misery.
Encouraged by his new sponsor, Sanyu is experimenting the possibilities of artistic expression of the oil painting, which will open his eyes beyond his favorite theme of the drawings of women for fashion and in the nude.
Sanyu becomes a painter of flowers, but with a great originality in which some try to see the influence of Chinese art. The theme of his research is not only the flowers but especially the white pitcher in which they are arranged. This stylized vase disappearing before a white background or in total contrast to a black background opens a new artistic language based on the opposition of simple shapes.
The oil on canvas 73 x 50 cm for sale by Poly Auction in Hong Kong on October 5, lot 133, is dated from that first experimental year. It is highlighted in the press release announcing all the sessions of the auction.
This white pot is placed on a white surface in front of a black background. It contains some roses as flowers or buds, painted in pink. The stems and the skeletons leaves painted close to white add to the illusion that this work without perspective effect and without texture detail could almost be a radiograph.
The artist continues his creative exploration. An oil on canvas painted in 1930 in a similar size shows a colored vase but the vanishing contrasts affect the plant against its black background. This painting that had belonged to Roché was sold for € 4.1 million including premium by Aguttes on June 2, 2015.
In 1931, the white vase against a white background becomes almost invisible. It is still present but does not attract any more the attention of the viewer. The flower becomes logically the focus of the picture. A composition with two pink hydrangeas was sold by Aguttes in the same sale as above and at the same price.
Soon after, the quarrel between Sanyu and Roché marks the end of this first period of great creativity of the artist.
Encouraged by his new sponsor, Sanyu is experimenting the possibilities of artistic expression of the oil painting, which will open his eyes beyond his favorite theme of the drawings of women for fashion and in the nude.
Sanyu becomes a painter of flowers, but with a great originality in which some try to see the influence of Chinese art. The theme of his research is not only the flowers but especially the white pitcher in which they are arranged. This stylized vase disappearing before a white background or in total contrast to a black background opens a new artistic language based on the opposition of simple shapes.
The oil on canvas 73 x 50 cm for sale by Poly Auction in Hong Kong on October 5, lot 133, is dated from that first experimental year. It is highlighted in the press release announcing all the sessions of the auction.
This white pot is placed on a white surface in front of a black background. It contains some roses as flowers or buds, painted in pink. The stems and the skeletons leaves painted close to white add to the illusion that this work without perspective effect and without texture detail could almost be a radiograph.
The artist continues his creative exploration. An oil on canvas painted in 1930 in a similar size shows a colored vase but the vanishing contrasts affect the plant against its black background. This painting that had belonged to Roché was sold for € 4.1 million including premium by Aguttes on June 2, 2015.
In 1931, the white vase against a white background becomes almost invisible. It is still present but does not attract any more the attention of the viewer. The flower becomes logically the focus of the picture. A composition with two pink hydrangeas was sold by Aguttes in the same sale as above and at the same price.
Soon after, the quarrel between Sanyu and Roché marks the end of this first period of great creativity of the artist.
The Hope for Abundance of a Young Chinese Artist
2013 SOLD 67 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Chang Yu arrived in Paris in 1921, aged 20. He wants to be an artist, and the easy life of Montparnasse quickly allows him to be known and acknowledged by the avant-garde.
He decided to stay in Paris, but with the boldness of a great artist he wants to keep his freedom of expression. Hisrelationships are stormy with the merchants who could represent him. He persists. His art is so personal and so original that is he now recognized as one of the most outstanding Chinese artists of his time. His name has been sinicized in Sanyu.
The corollary from the years of hardship is that his works have no ancient history of exhibition and cannot be dated. Goldfish, oil on canvas 74 x 50 cm, was painted after 1929. Later, he often used masonite: this work was likely not made after the Second World War.
Goldfish is a unique study and perhaps with no equivalent in the art of Sanyu by his search for the expression of a deep message by using the greatest simplicity of figuration, meeting the epitome of art as defined by old Chinese critics.
In a transparent cylindrical jar, eight goldfish of assorted colors swim peacefully in front of a bright orange wall. This animal and the number 8 are ancient Chinese symbols of abundance. Their freedom of positions may be compared with the iconography of the jars of the Jiajing emperor of the Ming. The white tablecloth is decorated with subtle signs reminding that Sanyu had studied the classical calligraphy.
Goldfish is estimated HK $ 50M, for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good result for this painting despite its simplicity, or rather because of it: HK$ 67M including premium.
Chang Yu arrived in Paris in 1921, aged 20. He wants to be an artist, and the easy life of Montparnasse quickly allows him to be known and acknowledged by the avant-garde.
He decided to stay in Paris, but with the boldness of a great artist he wants to keep his freedom of expression. Hisrelationships are stormy with the merchants who could represent him. He persists. His art is so personal and so original that is he now recognized as one of the most outstanding Chinese artists of his time. His name has been sinicized in Sanyu.
The corollary from the years of hardship is that his works have no ancient history of exhibition and cannot be dated. Goldfish, oil on canvas 74 x 50 cm, was painted after 1929. Later, he often used masonite: this work was likely not made after the Second World War.
Goldfish is a unique study and perhaps with no equivalent in the art of Sanyu by his search for the expression of a deep message by using the greatest simplicity of figuration, meeting the epitome of art as defined by old Chinese critics.
In a transparent cylindrical jar, eight goldfish of assorted colors swim peacefully in front of a bright orange wall. This animal and the number 8 are ancient Chinese symbols of abundance. Their freedom of positions may be compared with the iconography of the jars of the Jiajing emperor of the Ming. The white tablecloth is decorated with subtle signs reminding that Sanyu had studied the classical calligraphy.
Goldfish is estimated HK $ 50M, for sale by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on October 5. Here is the link to the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good result for this painting despite its simplicity, or rather because of it: HK$ 67M including premium.
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.
1931 Bouquets in Montparnasse
2017 SOLD for HK$ 51M including premium
During his studies at La Grande Chaumière, Sanyu tirelessly took sketches from the naked bodies of women. Despite his very good understanding of both Asian and Western arts, his approach was highly original : the emotion can come from the balance between the surfaces delimited by the lines. Figurative details, proportions and perspectives are subsidiary. Cézanne was right : art cannot copy nature.
The meeting with the flamboyant collector Henri-Pierre Roché in 1929 is decisive for Sanyu. A friend of Leo and Gertrude Stein, Roché plays a role of discoverer of talents in the avant-garde communities of Montparnasse. He promises Sanyu to buy him all his future works.
Liberated from material constraints, the young Chinese gives free impulse to his creativity. He adds colors according to Roché's recommendation to practice the oil painting. With this technique then new for him, Sanyu explores other artistic possibilities in a three centuries old theme : the bouquet of flowers in a vase.
Once again Sanyu goes against all the artistic conventions. His colors are very little contrasting either in pastel or dark hues. His favorite color is pink in a similarity between still life and nude that could have led him to the abstract expressionism. The vase is reduced to its outline without color and texture.
On November 22, 2014 in Hong Kong, Christie's sold for HK $ 47M including premium a Bouquet de roses dans un vase blanc, oil on canvas 81 x 50 cm dated April 10, 1931. The vase draws attention only by a slight angular tilting. A better visibility on the leaves than on the flowers is in opposition with all the academics.
On November 25 in the same auction house, a Bouquet de marguerites dated January 1931 is estimated HK $ 50M, lot 21.
This oil on canvas 81 x 45 cm appears as a bold study of asymmetry. The white edges at bottom and right simulate a window that decenters the vase in an optical trick. The flowers are in two groups separated by bare stems. The upper group leaning to the left is counterbalanced by the distribution of the flowers below it. In this composition without perspective the stylized vase is either posed or floating.
The meeting with the flamboyant collector Henri-Pierre Roché in 1929 is decisive for Sanyu. A friend of Leo and Gertrude Stein, Roché plays a role of discoverer of talents in the avant-garde communities of Montparnasse. He promises Sanyu to buy him all his future works.
Liberated from material constraints, the young Chinese gives free impulse to his creativity. He adds colors according to Roché's recommendation to practice the oil painting. With this technique then new for him, Sanyu explores other artistic possibilities in a three centuries old theme : the bouquet of flowers in a vase.
Once again Sanyu goes against all the artistic conventions. His colors are very little contrasting either in pastel or dark hues. His favorite color is pink in a similarity between still life and nude that could have led him to the abstract expressionism. The vase is reduced to its outline without color and texture.
On November 22, 2014 in Hong Kong, Christie's sold for HK $ 47M including premium a Bouquet de roses dans un vase blanc, oil on canvas 81 x 50 cm dated April 10, 1931. The vase draws attention only by a slight angular tilting. A better visibility on the leaves than on the flowers is in opposition with all the academics.
On November 25 in the same auction house, a Bouquet de marguerites dated January 1931 is estimated HK $ 50M, lot 21.
This oil on canvas 81 x 45 cm appears as a bold study of asymmetry. The white edges at bottom and right simulate a window that decenters the vase in an optical trick. The flowers are in two groups separated by bare stems. The upper group leaning to the left is counterbalanced by the distribution of the flowers below it. In this composition without perspective the stylized vase is either posed or floating.
1933-1934 Peonies in Pink and Black
2017 SOLD for € 8.8M including premium
On December 18 in Paris (Hôtel Drouot), Aguttes sells a recently rediscovered still life painted by Sanyu showing a peony plant in a flower pot, lot 12 estimated € 3M.
After the termination of his co-operation with Roché in 1931, Sanyu stops dating his artworks, perhaps because he shall give more attention to his creativity than to trade. The chronology of his art is uneasy to analyze.
This pot of peonies is made in minimalist colors consistent with the Roché period : the black and grays of the calligraphic line and the pink of the nudes. The staging of this plant with sharp lines is both effective and strange, like a colored negative succeeding his previous positive compositions on a light background. Leaves lined and ribbed with white are transparent in front of the black background like the skeletal leaves of a memento mori.
Two other elements converge to date this still life on the early 1930s although a slightly later date is also possible.
The oil 92 x 74 cm is painted on canvas. After the war Sanyu will prefer to work on masonite panels. It is visible in the undated photo of an exhibition wall, possibly from events organized in Amsterdam in 1933 and 1934 by a group of friends of the artist around the musician Johan Franco.
Please watch the video shared by Aguttes.
After the termination of his co-operation with Roché in 1931, Sanyu stops dating his artworks, perhaps because he shall give more attention to his creativity than to trade. The chronology of his art is uneasy to analyze.
This pot of peonies is made in minimalist colors consistent with the Roché period : the black and grays of the calligraphic line and the pink of the nudes. The staging of this plant with sharp lines is both effective and strange, like a colored negative succeeding his previous positive compositions on a light background. Leaves lined and ribbed with white are transparent in front of the black background like the skeletal leaves of a memento mori.
Two other elements converge to date this still life on the early 1930s although a slightly later date is also possible.
The oil 92 x 74 cm is painted on canvas. After the war Sanyu will prefer to work on masonite panels. It is visible in the undated photo of an exhibition wall, possibly from events organized in Amsterdam in 1933 and 1934 by a group of friends of the artist around the musician Johan Franco.
Please watch the video shared by Aguttes.
1930s A Simple Pink Nude
2016 SOLD for HK$ 59M including premium
Arriving in Paris in the early 1920s, Sanyu explored Montmartre and Montparnasse. The young artist is passionate about the Parisian life and its cabarets and about the freedom left to the artists to show the female nude. He realizes countless drawings combining the effectiveness of the line of traditional Chinese style with this sensual theme taboo at that time in his country.
Sanyu is a great innovator, probably influenced by Modigliani's nudes. He fully materializes the idea of the dominance of a sharp line. To draw the body, he favors the undulating lines and removes the unnecessary details. He lengthens torso and legs, and deliberately shrinks the head which is not interesting him.
Sanyu was a fiercely independent temperament, like Soutine. There is no doubt that he preferred his art to the fame but he also needed money and his demands went to weary his dealer Henri-Pierre Roché who broke their relationship in 1932.
Largely from Roché, Sanyu had understood the expressive qualities of oil painting. On October 3 in Hong Kong, Poly sells as lot 133 a pink nude painted by Sanyu in the 1930s. This oil on board 47 x 82 cm had been sold for HK $ 14M including premium by Sotheby's on 4 October 2010.
The woman is lying on her back on a white blanket with floral pattern. She is quietly sleeping with arms around her head and with tight legs. This nearly monochromatic composition is overwhelmed by the vivid pink flesh of this Parisian woman with a blonde hair.
Sanyu is a great innovator, probably influenced by Modigliani's nudes. He fully materializes the idea of the dominance of a sharp line. To draw the body, he favors the undulating lines and removes the unnecessary details. He lengthens torso and legs, and deliberately shrinks the head which is not interesting him.
Sanyu was a fiercely independent temperament, like Soutine. There is no doubt that he preferred his art to the fame but he also needed money and his demands went to weary his dealer Henri-Pierre Roché who broke their relationship in 1932.
Largely from Roché, Sanyu had understood the expressive qualities of oil painting. On October 3 in Hong Kong, Poly sells as lot 133 a pink nude painted by Sanyu in the 1930s. This oil on board 47 x 82 cm had been sold for HK $ 14M including premium by Sotheby's on 4 October 2010.
The woman is lying on her back on a white blanket with floral pattern. She is quietly sleeping with arms around her head and with tight legs. This nearly monochromatic composition is overwhelmed by the vivid pink flesh of this Parisian woman with a blonde hair.
1950s Demoiselles from Montparnasse
2011 SOLD 128 MHK$ including premium
Based in Paris since 1923, Sanyu wanted to live the life of an artist. Leaving the official teachings, he became fascinated with the drawing of naked women, an occupation that was not unusual in Europe but seemed extraordinary to that young Chinese.
Success did not come, and Sanyu sought another reason for pride in inventing and trying to promote a new sport inspired by tennis and ping pong.
Embittered, increasingly isolated, he devoted himself to oil painting, showing in the 1950's an extreme ability to give life to flowers. He was to die unknown.
Flower, horse, landscape, nude woman are then for him no more than an interchangeable excuse for studies of lines and forms containing solid colors like by Matisse or Léger.
The drawings of his early art deformed bodies in excess. Groups of female nudes from the 1950s do not have this defect, but are extremely rare.
On November 27, 2005, Christie's sold HK $ 16.3 million including premium an oil on masonite, 100 x 122 cm, showing four lying naked women, three of them on the belly and one on the back. The bodies are stylized but the European heads are well differentiated. It was at that time the highest price recorded for a work by Sanyu.
It took more than five years to welcome at auction a work of comparable theme. Now, five naked women are standing, four full front and one from the back, in a slightly down-up view. This oil on masonite, 120 x 175 cm, is very large for this artist. It is for sale by Ravenel in Hong Kong on May 30.
Five female nudes pictured together? The catalog reminds us that there was a famous precedent: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.
POST SALE COMMENT
The sales of modern and contemporary art by Ravenel are interesting and can include real treasures: HK $ 128M including premium for this group of nudes.
Success did not come, and Sanyu sought another reason for pride in inventing and trying to promote a new sport inspired by tennis and ping pong.
Embittered, increasingly isolated, he devoted himself to oil painting, showing in the 1950's an extreme ability to give life to flowers. He was to die unknown.
Flower, horse, landscape, nude woman are then for him no more than an interchangeable excuse for studies of lines and forms containing solid colors like by Matisse or Léger.
The drawings of his early art deformed bodies in excess. Groups of female nudes from the 1950s do not have this defect, but are extremely rare.
On November 27, 2005, Christie's sold HK $ 16.3 million including premium an oil on masonite, 100 x 122 cm, showing four lying naked women, three of them on the belly and one on the back. The bodies are stylized but the European heads are well differentiated. It was at that time the highest price recorded for a work by Sanyu.
It took more than five years to welcome at auction a work of comparable theme. Now, five naked women are standing, four full front and one from the back, in a slightly down-up view. This oil on masonite, 120 x 175 cm, is very large for this artist. It is for sale by Ravenel in Hong Kong on May 30.
Five female nudes pictured together? The catalog reminds us that there was a famous precedent: Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.
POST SALE COMMENT
The sales of modern and contemporary art by Ravenel are interesting and can include real treasures: HK $ 128M including premium for this group of nudes.
1950s A Chrysanthemum in Paris
2010 SOLD 53 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In 2006, the art market discovers the importance of the still life paintings made in Paris by Sanyu (Chang Yu) in the 1950s. The highest bid is then recorded on a potted chrysanthemum, sold HK$ 29M including premium at Christie's.
Sanyu is a colorist who knows Matisse. The contrast is strong between the main subject, bright, and the crimson background, a solid color that could appeal to Rothko. The chrysanthemum is loved in the Far East, where it is a symbol of appeasement. The blue and white pot is a direct reference to China. It is an oil on masonite, 120 x 90 cm, whose composition is much balanced.
This artwork comes in the same auction house, Christie's in Hong Kong, on November 27. The press release does not publish an estimate, but considers that this lot has the potential to set a new auction record.
POST SALE COMMENT
The buyer of 2006 had an excellent deal, and Christie's perfectly accompanied the current enthusiasm for Sanyu's art of the 1950s.
Result: HK $ 53M including premium.
This painting is shown in the article shared post sale by Bloomberg.
In 2006, the art market discovers the importance of the still life paintings made in Paris by Sanyu (Chang Yu) in the 1950s. The highest bid is then recorded on a potted chrysanthemum, sold HK$ 29M including premium at Christie's.
Sanyu is a colorist who knows Matisse. The contrast is strong between the main subject, bright, and the crimson background, a solid color that could appeal to Rothko. The chrysanthemum is loved in the Far East, where it is a symbol of appeasement. The blue and white pot is a direct reference to China. It is an oil on masonite, 120 x 90 cm, whose composition is much balanced.
This artwork comes in the same auction house, Christie's in Hong Kong, on November 27. The press release does not publish an estimate, but considers that this lot has the potential to set a new auction record.
POST SALE COMMENT
The buyer of 2006 had an excellent deal, and Christie's perfectly accompanied the current enthusiasm for Sanyu's art of the 1950s.
Result: HK $ 53M including premium.
This painting is shown in the article shared post sale by Bloomberg.
1956 Sanyu, the Parisian Chinese
2009 SOLD 36.5 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
Sanyu (Chang Yu) spent his artistic career in Paris. The Chinese artist was mainly known as a small master of female nude studies, very distorted, which sometimes remind Kisling's art.
In the 1950s, he changed his style, since then inspired by Chinese tradition, in carefully composed works that depict plants, small animals, sometimes a stylized landscape, sometimes an ancient Chinese poem. The paintings of this period are raised gradually for three years to the heights of the art market.
On May 24, Christie's Hong Kong sold 41 MHK$ fees included an oil on panel, 154 x 77 cm. A shrub is planted in a flower pot. At the top, a bird is feeding three chicks in their nest. Below, a cat standing on his feet is watching the scene. There is a striking contrast between the dark background and plant and the bright details of the story.
On October 6, Lotus et Poissons Rouges (Lotus and Red Fish) is estimated 15 MHK$ at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. The painter liked this large painting, 117 x 179 cm, which is seen behind him in a photo taken in 1956 in his studio. The water, the perspective of water surface and the sky split the painting in almost parallel strips scratched by the stylized lotus.
The lotus is a symbol of strength and purity. The press release indicates that this flower inspired at the same time Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien), another outstanding Chinese artist who will have his place later in this column.
POST SALE COMMENT
Excellent result at 36.5 MHK $ including premium, which confirms that the price obtained by Christie's in May was not an isolated phenomenon.
The results of Sanyu are to be followed closely, at least for his works of the 50s.
Sanyu (Chang Yu) spent his artistic career in Paris. The Chinese artist was mainly known as a small master of female nude studies, very distorted, which sometimes remind Kisling's art.
In the 1950s, he changed his style, since then inspired by Chinese tradition, in carefully composed works that depict plants, small animals, sometimes a stylized landscape, sometimes an ancient Chinese poem. The paintings of this period are raised gradually for three years to the heights of the art market.
On May 24, Christie's Hong Kong sold 41 MHK$ fees included an oil on panel, 154 x 77 cm. A shrub is planted in a flower pot. At the top, a bird is feeding three chicks in their nest. Below, a cat standing on his feet is watching the scene. There is a striking contrast between the dark background and plant and the bright details of the story.
On October 6, Lotus et Poissons Rouges (Lotus and Red Fish) is estimated 15 MHK$ at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. The painter liked this large painting, 117 x 179 cm, which is seen behind him in a photo taken in 1956 in his studio. The water, the perspective of water surface and the sky split the painting in almost parallel strips scratched by the stylized lotus.
The lotus is a symbol of strength and purity. The press release indicates that this flower inspired at the same time Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien), another outstanding Chinese artist who will have his place later in this column.
POST SALE COMMENT
Excellent result at 36.5 MHK $ including premium, which confirms that the price obtained by Christie's in May was not an isolated phenomenon.
The results of Sanyu are to be followed closely, at least for his works of the 50s.
1958 Luxuriance of a Chrysanthemum
2014 SOLD 80 MHK$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
In Paris, Sanyu has not forgotten his Chinese origin. In the 1950s, he devotes his art to a synthesis of Western and Eastern figurative elements, with an authenticity specially interesting because he was no longer looking for fame. The bright colors in front of which he dispositions his figures are inspired by abstract expressionism.
Now his potted chrysanthemums are included among the masterpieces of exiled Chinese painting.
He uses the oil on masonite, a Western technique. Still life on tabletop is not a Chinese theme. The chrysanthemum is the link to the Chinese imagery. It reveals its power when it is raising up with luxuriance towards the sky or ceiling, with colors inspired by the traditional art of lacquer.
On April 5 in Hong Kong, an amazing example is for sale by Sotheby's. In large size for this artist, 130 x 74 cm, this painting is estimated HK $ 40M.
Fortunately for the historian, this painting comes with a dated information, which is not often the case for the later art by Sanyu. In March 1958, it was chosen by the artist to illustrate his quest for East meets West within a modern art exhibition in Camargue.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
POST SALE COMMENT
This important specimen from an iconic series was sold for HK$ 80M including premium.
In Paris, Sanyu has not forgotten his Chinese origin. In the 1950s, he devotes his art to a synthesis of Western and Eastern figurative elements, with an authenticity specially interesting because he was no longer looking for fame. The bright colors in front of which he dispositions his figures are inspired by abstract expressionism.
Now his potted chrysanthemums are included among the masterpieces of exiled Chinese painting.
He uses the oil on masonite, a Western technique. Still life on tabletop is not a Chinese theme. The chrysanthemum is the link to the Chinese imagery. It reveals its power when it is raising up with luxuriance towards the sky or ceiling, with colors inspired by the traditional art of lacquer.
On April 5 in Hong Kong, an amazing example is for sale by Sotheby's. In large size for this artist, 130 x 74 cm, this painting is estimated HK $ 40M.
Fortunately for the historian, this painting comes with a dated information, which is not often the case for the later art by Sanyu. In March 1958, it was chosen by the artist to illustrate his quest for East meets West within a modern art exhibition in Camargue.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
POST SALE COMMENT
This important specimen from an iconic series was sold for HK$ 80M including premium.
