Oil on canvas， mounted on wooden sculpture

24.5 x 16.5 x 5.5 cm  9 5/8 x 6 1/2 x 2 1/8 in.（wooden sculpture）；15.5 x 30 x 25 cm  6 1/8 x 11 7/8 x 9 7/8 in.（wooden box）

Signed and titled in Chinese， dated with two artist’s seals on reverse of the sculpture； Inscribed， titled and signed in Chinese， dated with three artist’s seals on reverse of the wooden box
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a hand crafted wooden box executed by the artist

I engrave every hour in every piece of stone.
Through those hours I have been enveloped with,
I see a deep valley of endless hours.
I thank the lord,
For giving me an unconquerable soul.
Even when I am captured by memories,
I will neither shrink nor shriek.
Ravaged by waves of hours,
I stand unmoved.
No matter how narrow the door is for me to pass,
No matter how heavy the yoke of time is for me to carry,
I am my destiny,
I rule my soul.
—Chou Chu-wang, The Hours
Conveying Warmth
and Wonder
The Stone Art of Chou Chu-Wang
I see myself a leisurely old man living among the mountains； of what concern are mundane affairs to me? If flowers could understand us, how troublesome it would be! It is the silence of the stones that makes them so appealing.
—Lu You, Accounts of a Leisurely Existence
At the very mention of stones, many people in China immediately think of the myth of Nüwa, the mother goddess, repairing the stone pillar of the heavens. Since the Wei and Jin dynasties, innumerable literary figures have used stones as a symbol for their unwavering intellectual pursuits and values. Chinese artists have expressed these pursuits in their poems, essays, and paintings as a means of teaching their descendants the beauty of nature and the humanities. Chou Chu-Wang grew up in Pingtung County in Taiwan and graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the National Kaohsiung Normal University. Although he is not necessarily influenced by the role that stones played in ancient Chinese art, he nonetheless has chosen “goose egg stones” that are omnipresent along the Taiwanese coastline as the subject of his paintings. Through his unique approach, he conveys his understanding of himself, his family, and his city. Using highly realistic techniques, he depicts stones which, although they appear banal upon first inspection, glitter magnificently in the sun. The warmth, introspection, and lack of pretense in his works has made them coveted items among collectors. In 2003 and 2007, he was awarded Kaohsiung and Taipei's Grand Prizes for Fine Arts （respectively） and, in 2009, he won the Chimei Arts Award. His works have meanwhile been collected by institutions such as the White Rabbit Gallery in Australia, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art in Ningxia, and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art. He has also been invited by the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Art to present a large-scale exposition of his work entitled Vicissitudes of Stony Seas, which will kick off this year. This milestone further confirms Chou's status as one of the most widely appreciated artists in Taiwan.
The Gentle Murmurs of Long-silent Stones
Chou Chu-Wang's choice of sandstone as subject matter is not only related to the environment in which he grew up — it also results from his desire to hone his body and spirit. Stone Islet, which he completed in 2016, embodies the quintessential traits of his work. In this piece, Chou has chosen a bird's eye perspective to emphasize the different proportions, grain lines, and colors of the stones, leading viewers to believe that they have been randomly scattered across the fine sand. However, their position has been meticulously planned so that the composition resembles landmarks on a map or a close-up of a constellation among a myriad of stars. As one's gaze slowly wanders from one corner of this “night sky” to another, he or she becomes overwhelmed by its depth and breadth； this in turn leads the viewer to consider his or her place within the infinite universe. Looking at Chou's works, many are often struck by his realistic approach, with it easy to overlook the sunlight that shimmers on the stones' surfaces. Perhaps it is not necessary — or even ideal — to stare intently at these works； one could perhaps close his or her eyes and allow the remnants of that glittering light to shine through the darkness. In this way, a seemingly static image is able to create moving landscapes in the mind. The artist precisely uses high levels of contrast in order to create a transcendental universe, and thanks to the artist's careful arrangement, these stones, which have remained silent for eons, are able to gently whisper the secrets of nature and the flux of all living things.
Another work, Wang Dao Stone, is only slightly larger than the palm of the human hand. The artist depicts stones in painstaking detail, as if to immortalize them in the form of a portrait. His extraordinary powers of observation are, without a doubt, unparalleled by the majority of his peers. The name of the work lends the stone a kind of mystic power, encouraging viewers to consider it not only in a literal, visual sense, but also in terms of its potential cultural significance. This implies that the typically introspective artist has turned his gaze to face the outer world. In this work, one can also make out glittering and warm sunlight reflecting off the stone's surface.

Price estimate:
HKD: 20,000 - 40,000
USD: 2,500 - 5,100

Auction Result:
HKD : 37,760