Oil on board

25 x 33 cm. 9 7/8 x 13 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Europe

Landscapes as a window into the soul
Fontainebleau by Li Fengbai
Over the course of his career, Li Fengbai helped write a new chapter in the history of China's fine arts as well as promote the development of modern history. Li Fengbai was born in Zhijiang, Hunan Province, in 1900. In 1924, he was admitted to the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, where he studied alongside Lin Fengmian and Xu Beihong. In 1929, Lin Fengmian offered him a position as a professor at the National Hangzhou Academy of Art, where he would go on to cultivate a long list of talented Chinese artists. In 1933, due to political instability, he had no choice but to return to Paris. Upon his return, he organized the Dadaoshe, which united fellow Chinese expats in their resistance against Japanese invaders. Li Fengbai never abandoned his passion for art. He tirelessly produced a wide range of works, the most celebrated of which are no doubt his landscape paintings.
He applies oil paints directly onto the canvas without making a draft in order to depict China's stunning rivers and mountains. It was only several years after his passing that his works received their due praise in Paris. In 2007, his works were exhibited at important venues such as the CAA Art Museum and the Centre culturel de Chine à Paris, where they garnered widespread attention and elicited extensive discourse about Chinese art.
In his 1948 work, Fontainebleau, Li Fengbai depicts the quiet scenery of Fontainebleau, a small town on the outskirts of Paris. With thick-yet-distinct dabs of oil paint, he lends a down-like texture to a group of rolling clouds converging in the sky. This technique of creating an approaching storm was no doubt inspired by his studies of classical Western painting while abroad in France. We can see the rushing current of the river cascading downwards, adding to the topography and majesty of the landscape. At the time of this work's creation, Li Fengbai had already joined the Parti communiste de Paris； on the one hand, he was filled with fighting spirit and faith in the future but, on the other hand, he was profoundly aware of the internal and external conflicts that ravaged China at that time. These complicated feelings of fear and anticipation are reflected in this work, giving the viewer a sense of his noble spirit and vast aspirations for his people.

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

Auction Result:
HKD : 47,200