Ink and color on paper

138×35 cm 54 3/8×13 3/4 in

Titled and signed on upper left
Artist’s seal on upper left and bottom right
Titled， signed and dated on bottom left

LITERATURE
1980, Hsiung Shih Art November Issue- Modern Chinese Art Development, Hsiung Shih Art Publications, p.95
11 Jun 1981, Min Sheng Pao- Art World of Shiy-Dejinn, Min Sheng Publishing House, p.9
EXHIBITED
12 Nov– 21 Nov 1980， Modern Chinese Art Development， Spring Gallery， Taipei

PROVENANCE
Private collection， Asia

“Modern Chinese paintings， being inseparable from the paraphernalia of traditional Chinese paintings， i.e. writing brushes， ink sticks， paper and inkstones， should reflect Chinese humanism， modern thought， sentiment through colors. I call it modern， not western.”
—— Shi De-Jinn

The Fei Shi Lou CollectionIn 1969， Shiy De-Jinn’s painting entered a brand-new stage. By then he had gone through the “the truth” – the paintings of native landscapes in the early 50s and 60s， “the kindness” - the exact precision and lifelike quality of human portraits in the 60s， as well as the ultimate pursuit of “the beauty” in his later works. Now his pondering focused on “how to lead the innovation of modernized Chinese ink painting”.
Shiy De-Jinn believes that traditional Chinese ink-wash painting still has its own advantages， for instance， “Bone-like style of drawing” in traditional Chinese paintings in effect brings out “flesh and bones， life， weight， texture， personality， and emotions all in one single stroke， which is nonexistent in Western paintings.” What is even more amazing in traditional Chinese calligraphy is that each and every stroke of dot， left-falling， horizontal stroke and right-falling is filled with rich expressions and saturated with the chivalrous open-mindedness of an intellectual man. However， a modern painting artist should not be complacent and confine himself to the traditional ways， but walk into the reality； instead of making the classic facsimile as one’s goal， one should paint the beauty of everyday life and the real mountains and waters through firsthand observations. Only when one turns to the reality that new life can be injected into traditional Chinese ink-wash painting and new grounds broken. Since the beginning of 1971， he began using rice paper as his materials and completed large quantities of ink-wash paintings and watercolor paintings， while assiduously practicing Han Li characters and rubbings of inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets for numerous hours a day and every day without failing. For him， to practice calligraphy is not merely copying the models but to express one’s own thoughts and emotions freely. The two works now put up for auction， Riverside and Calligraphy are the important representatives of his later works in the 1970s.
Following the flow of nature’s rhythms

In Riverside （1979）， when dealing with landscapes in Taiwan’s Tam Shui District， which are his favorite， Shiy De-Jinn adopted a long and narrow vertical composition， consistent with those of traditional Chinese ink-wash paintings. The bustling heaps of colors in his early works had apparently vanished， here his use of colors tended towards refined simplicity， changing his artistic style from the traditional “five colors of Chinese ink” to watercolors， showing a new personalized color selection. He didn’t adopt “automatism” technique of Chinese ink painting， which was the popular approach among the painting artists back then， nor was he confined to the traditional wrinkled texture method. Instead， with a solid blue-grey brush， he divided the painting into five parts with daring strokes， while deliberately leaving the top and bottom blank. The trail of the brush was like rhythmic succession of waves， that brought a natural and soothing delight. In the foreground and the middle to backgrounds， Shiy De-Jinn succinctly painted the huts on the sandbars， the small boats at the water’s edge， and lush screwpine uniquely grown off Taiwanese coastline， with confident， jet-black lines. Those forcible and vigorous stroke of penmanship is a result of long years of practicing writing ancient inscriptions and Han-li characters， with a sense of unswerving tenacity. The depiction of the screwpine especially， demonstrated how powerful yet composed and steady his strokes were. Using freehand brush work， he drew a very commanding presence of the screwpine growing sturdily against the wind. The dotted yellow fruits of the screwpine， on the other hand， sent forth a ray of vivacious punch. From the painting - having no one human being- emanated such unsophisticated beauty， tranquility， as well as the stand-offish personality of an intellectual man- the artist- taking a solitary walk between the mountains and the waters. This work can be said to have relayed the “new ground” opened up by Fu Baoshi， Li Keran， Zhang Daqian and Lin Fengmian in contemporary Chinese painting， while in the same time is another “new” personal achievement of Shiy De-Jinn， following his pursuit of the true， the good and the beautiful in art.
In June 1980， in his letter to his good friend in Hong Kong，Daniel who was the editor-in-chief of Chinese-Foreign Pictorial， he asked whether his friend could publish Riverside on the cover of the periodical and mentioned that this was the finest effort among his ten artworks， which evidently showed how much he made of this painting. Later， this picture was featured in an article entitled The Modern Chinese Painting Exploration Exhibition in Lion Art Magazine in November of the same year. The significance and importance of this work goes without saying.
In the calligraphy work， Shi De-Jinn showcased the self-invented “Shi” character after many years of continual practice. In this work， he wrote the famous poem “Yu Meiren （Lady Yu）” written by Liyu of the Southern Tang dynasty. Being imprisoned by Emperor Taizong of Song in Bianjing city， the author lamented， by means of poetry， the absurd discrepancies between nature and human life- where the former was ruled by constancy and the latter transient and vulnerable - and poured out his deep sorrow for the fall of his nation and his overwhelming emotions facing the desolate bleakness. In retrospective of the time when Shi De-Jinn was writing the calligraphy of this poem， he was at the end-stage of pancreatic cancer and was suffering excruciating pain. Perhaps that was why he resorted to this poem to express himself： the spontaneous strokes that are both heavy and light， solid yet soft， is embodied the artist’s own lamentation over life and his memory of the past， which is what makes this work especially significant.

Price estimate:
HKD: 400,000 – 600,000
USD: 51,300 – 76,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 472,000