Bronze Sculpture

26 x 44 x 21 cm. 10 1/4 x 17 3/8 x 8 1/4 in.

Singed in numbered on bottom of the artwork； signed in Chinese below the tail
Edition: 2/8


PROVENANCE
Main Trend Gallery, Taipei
Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity issued by Main Trend Gallery, Taipei

Comprehending art through upholding virtues
Hsiung Ping-Ming: his life and work
“Bulls and I have both experienced times of great adversity, but through our ordeals, we have found hope for survival.”
—Hsiung Ping-Ming
In 1922, Hsiung Ping-Ming was born into a family of intellectuals in Nanjing. His father, Hsiung Ching-lai, was a renowned mathematician who had once studied in France. In 1947, Hsiung Ping-Ming travelled to France to complete a PhD in Philosophy. There, he became roommates with Wu Guanzhong, who awoke in him a passion for the arts and later became his lifelong friend. Hsiung later enrolled in a program in sculpture, taught by the French philosopher Marcel Gimond, at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Hsiung Ping-Ming's sculptures are largely of animals. Through the posture, shape and texture of his sculptures, Hsiung powerfully conveys the importance of maintaining a staunch disposition in the face of adversity as well as the notion that all living things have a soul. His background in philosophy adds to the profundity of his work. Retrospectives of his work have been held at institutions such as the National Art Museum of China, the Shanghai Museum of Art, and the National Museum of History in Taipei. He is an influential figure among the first wave of Chinese people to study abroad in France.
Sincere, Down-to-earth, and Generous
Hsiung's confidant Wu Guanzhong once said of his work, “[Hsiung's] sculptures are imbued with an indomitable spirit like that of Lu Xun. He particularly enjoys sculpting bulls precisely because they embody this kind of spirit.” During his time as a scholar abroad, Hsiung continued to be concerned by the fate of his motherland and deeply related to the unyielding national spirit conveyed in Lu Xun's stories. Standing Cow, completed in 1965, is one of Hsiung's most emblematic works. Using copper, Hsiung sculpted a cow with sinewy limbs, a raised head, and horns in the shape of a bow. By giving the cow a ridged spine and an uneven back, the artist has conveyed this animal's sturdy physique and its staunch, unyielding nature. In this sense, the work serves to remind us of the sincere, down-to-earth, and generous spirit upheld in traditional Chinese culture, as well as the true essence of existence as explored by philosophers. In Eastern culture, the bull symbolizes uncomplaining, untiring work on the farm — and, by extension, one's rural home. After moving to France in 1947, Hsiung Ping-Ming resolved to stay there and continue his studies at the same time as disseminating Eastern thought and art. It was only after 25 years in France that he had the opportunity to return to his country of birth. Perhaps, then, Standing Cow — which he completed toward the end of his time abroad — also conveys a sense of longing for his motherland.

Price estimate:
HKD: 500,000 - 600,000
USD: 63,700 - 76,400

Auction Result:
HKD : 613,600