Pencil and charcoal on paper

44.5 x 27.6 cm.  17 1/2 x 10 7/8 in.

LITERATURE
Nov 2014, Sanyu Catalogue Raisonné Drawings and Watercolors, Rita Wong, The Li Ching Cultural and Educational Foundation, Taipei, Plate D0532

PROVENANCE
Original Collection of Mr. Henri-Pierre Roché
Previous Collection of
Mr. Jean-Claude Riedel
Private Collection, Asia

The road to modernity
Sanyu. An affinity for brush and ink
This autumn, we seek to understand the short but brilliant career of the Chinese-French painter Sanyu through a set of works to be sold at auction. As a young man, Sanyu） moved to Paris, where he studied art at the well-known Académie de la Grande Chaumière, garnering fame for his sketches of the human body. Many well-known modern painters, including Marc Chagall, Pang Xunqin, and Zao Wou-Ki, had previously studied at this studio. Sanyu once opposed Pang Xunqin's enrollment into a formal art school, remarking: “Academicism has witnessed its decline. Everyone is abandoning it as they embark upon the road to modernity.”
To “embark upon the road to modernity” was also a goal Sanyu set for his own artistic development. His works borrow heavily from the practice of calligraphy, and freehand sketches were his preferred artistic style. Even in childhood, Sanyu showed a keen understanding of calligraphy. In 1918, during a stay in Japan, his calligraphic works were published in a Tokyo-based art magazine. In France, he used ink and brush to delineate the contours of the human body, which became a trademark feature of the style for which he would be renowned. The art critic Chen Yanfeng has labeled works created in this manner “ink nudes”. This autumn, the Guardian Hong Kong presents three of Sanyu's sketches of the human form. Each sketch is executed in a particular unique style and brilliantly captures the splendor of the human body.
A classic work of portraiture
In Standing Nude, Sanyu creates a vivid, compositionally complete sketch of the human body, using Western-style lead and charcoal pencils as his artistic medium. The work is a frontal view of the body of a European woman, her outstretched arms suggesting fearlessness. Sanyu uses the charcoal pencil to portray the woman's limbs and abdominal muscles, revealing her vigorous beauty. The detail in the sketch - the woman's hair, put up in a bun, the earring dangling from one of her ears, and her luxurious necklace - derive from the artist's careful observations. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that another work, a woman, seen from behind, is drawn on the reverse of the sketch. From this woman's raised arms and the necklace dangling from her neck, we can infer that she is the same woman we see on the front of the paper. Such double-sided works are rare for Sanyu； no more than ten such items have ever been sold at auction. The current work was previously owned by Sanyu's close friend Henri-Pierre Roché, who was one of the most important collectors of Sanyu's work during his lifetime. In 1966, a few years after Roché's death, his widow sold a set of Sanyu's works at an auction in Paris, including Standing Nude. All of these works were purchased by the French art dealer Jean-Claude Riedel. Standing Nude is, indeed, a rare masterpiece.
Oriental charm revealed through brushwork
In addition to his mastery of the lead and charcoal pencils, In View of a Lady's Back, Sanyu was highly adept at sketching the human body using an ink brush. In this work, executed on rice paper, Sanyu subtly outlines a view of a standing woman from behind. The way she clutches the back of her head reveals a self-evident mixture of leisure and loneliness. Sanyu gives his subject oversized, plump legs, what his friend Hsu Chih-mo would come to call “cosmic thighs.” In France, rice paper is a scarce and expensive material. For that reason, Sanyu's nude sketches rarely have rice paper as their base. Rice paper has a soft texture and is able to absorb a lot of ink, making the brushstrokes smoother and more agile, and infusing the work with a stronger Oriental flavor.
A tribute to the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and the Golden Age
Most of Sanyu's human sketches were completed at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. On occasion, Sanyu would make a man or woman engaging in the act of painting the object of his sketch. The third work, provisionally entitled Sketching Man, is one of these. Selecting a point of view above and behind the subject, Sanyu depicts a man sitting in a chair as he focuses on creating a drawing. What, exactly, is he drawing? We are given only a glimpse of a small sheet of paper beyond the man's broad shoulders. Is it the famous young muse, Kiki, on stage at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, or a scene in some quiet corner amidst the bustling streets of Paris? … Perhaps the man's drawing would bear witness to the uninhibited style of the Académie and to the golden age in which Paris marched along down “the road to modernity”? And perhaps, after a long and winding journey, the man's drawing is today prominently displayed on the walls of a proud collector.
A Rare Treasure of the Leopard Theme
As Marcelle Charlotte Guyot de la Hardrouyère, the wife of Sanyu, recalls, the artist has always found favor in painting animals. He often went to the zoo to paint from life and search for inspiration. Resulting from the combination of artistic talent and keen mind is the forming of a perfect moment. One such piece is Leopard, offered in this auction as one of the most precious artworks of Sanyu. The leopard often gives the impression of strong attacking power, while in this work the artist depicted an agile and lovely leopard gazing upwards with head up high. Not limited to the observation of the appearance, Sanyu also grasped the spirituality of the leopard, corresponding to the Chinese aesthetic principle of “vivid presentation through freehand brushstrokes.” In the painting, the front foot of the little leopard bends backward and stays halted, with its flexible beard spreading to the sides and adorning the nose pointing up, composing a real vivacious scene! Just like all the amiable and lovely animals from Sanyu, the depicted leopard takes away people's impression of its attacking power and appears free and jolly, conveying the peculiar spirit of his work.
Moreover, Sanyu was also fond of mirroring the human nature of loneliness through animals of glamorous appearance such as leopard, allowing the spectator to appreciate the metaphorical beauty when facing the work. Throughout his life, there are no more than fifteen leopard-themed works, among which only two pieces are entirely painted with ink, highlighting the significance of the work, Leopard. Making its debut in the auction, it is of rare appearance and extreme value.

Price estimate:
HKD: 120,000 - 180,000
USD: 15,300 - 22,900

Auction Result:
HKD : 188,800