Ink on paper

28×45 cm. 11×17 3/4 in

Stamped with one artist’s seal on bottom center

LITERATURE
1975, ZAO WOU-KI The Graphic Work, Arts et Métiers Graphiques Publishing House, Paris, p.32, pl.44
1994, ZAO WOU-KI The Graphic Work A Catalogue Raisonné 1937-1995, Edition Heede & Moestrup Publishing House, Copenhagen, p.38, pl.44
PROVENANCE
Private collection, France
1 Oct 2011, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Autumn Auction, Lot 765
Important Private Collection, Asia

Reveling in the Beauty of the Ordinary
Beautiful Nudes by Sanyu
Artistically Regaled “Cosmic Thighs”
Sanyu holds a position of particular note in the history of modern Chinese painting. Born in Sichuan in 1901, he together with Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian and others were part of the first generation of Chinese artists to study in France. Sanyu arrived in France in 1920, but always stood apart from the diligent hard working Chinese student community. He had no particular admiration for places of high artistic learning and chose to attend the Atelier de la Grande Chaumière which was known for its free and open artistic style. Indeed, it was there that Sanyu saw a nude female model for the first time after leaving China and the sense of creative freedom with which Paris was imbued allowed him to paint more freely and develop his own style. Sanyu expert and early promoter, art critic Chen Yanfeng, once divided the artist’s female nudes into three broad categories：“With the first type he paints an outline with a brush, some with no more than ink lines and creative even exaggerated proportions for the legs, what Xu Zhimo referred to as ’cosmic thighs’； the second type of female nudes are depicted in pencil in an unrushed manner； the third type are depicted in pencil and the outlines then blended with charcoal.” The three works by Sanyu produced in 1930 - Side Seating Lady, Standing Beauty and from the collection of Chen Yanfeng Nude Beauty showcase Sanyu’s unique expressiveness when painting nudes.
Side Seating Lady：Brushwork Lines That Speak From The Heart
Western artists often first draw an outline of a nude in pencil or charcoal. However, Sanyu, who studied calligraphy from a young age, had a solid technical foundation and so opted for a different approach, using traditional brush-painted ink lines to portray his own highly distinctive female forms. In Side Seating Lady Sanyu first outlines the body of the woman with a brush and then use a few simple strokes to depict her facial features and bosom, offering viewers a direct link to the “carefree style” of Zen painting. The woman sits on the floor with one leg bent under her body and the other stretched out in front. The artist purposefully minimizes the upper part of the body and exaggerates the lower part, creating the impression of looking at the human form through a wide-angle camera lens. Moreover, this bold distortion effect initially surprises and even shocks the viewer. Another defining characteristic of Sanyu’s female nudes is that the faces are invariably depicted with one eye, nose and lips. Side Seating Lady is an example of this stylistic choice.
Standing Beauty：Free Flowing Style in Pencil
In Standing Beauty Sanyu uses pencil, his unhurried and detailed lines depicting the female nude in a particularly vivid way from simple strokes. The forthright and sincere depiction is reminiscent of Henri Matisse and showcases a work that is bold and unrestrained. In the painting, the model has short-hair and is at the center of the painting, her eyes almost closed, twisted limbs and angular form creating a body language that is poetic in its flow and inner world. The ring on the ring finger of the woman’s left hand ingeniously alludes to the fact that she is married and indirectly presents the viewer with a window into the free and open society that existed in Paris at that time and the creative background to the work. It also conveys the relaxed atmosphere of humor and fun that pervaded figure drawing workshops at the Atelier de la Grande Chaumière.
Nude Beauty：The Beauty of Loneliness
In Nude Beauty, Sanyu outlines in pencil lines a woman who has turned away, the outline and texture blended with charcoal, creating a method whereby “virtuality highlights reality.” The first collector of this piece, Chen Yanfeng, believe that this female nude with its combination of pencil and charcoal was similar to the sensual nudes of Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita. Indeed, the undulating lines of the female form and the fulsome body are what give his 1930 oil painting Nude Beauty its unique lonely beauty. Although Sanyu never indicated the identity of the woman depicted, it is likely that the short haired woman portrayed in two of these works was the nude model Kiki who was renowned in Montparnasse at that time, showcasing another side to her bold, outgoing nature, and vital character.
The works of Sanyu showcase an Eastern understanding of lines and aesthetics learned from his studies of traditional calligraphy from a young age, which he adeptly applies to the diametrically opposite field of Western nude painting in a way that earned him the name “China’s Matisse.” In his works on paper, Sanyu uses his “cosmic thighs” created from a few masterly brushstrokes, to reveal the love and desire hidden under the clamor, transforming these into issues deserving reflection and discussion.

Price estimate:
HKD: 150, 000 - 250, 000
USD: 19, 200 - 32, 100

Auction Result:
HKD: 295,000