Oil on canvas

91.5 × 72.8 cm. 36 x 28 5/8 in.

Titled, signed in Chinese, dated and located with one artist’s seal on upper right; inscribed, dated, located and signed in Chinese on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly by Mr. Huang Yuanzhu from the artist
Private Collection, Asia

Note: This work is confirmed by the artist’s relative Chang Jiahuang as the original work by the artist

A Dialogue between the Divine and Mundane
Chang Shuhong’s Rare Oil Painting from the 1980s, Heavenly Home
Throughout the history of Chinese modern art, few people have simultaneously contributed to the fields of painting, archaeology, and cultural heritage preservation to the same extent as Chang Shuhong. As a young student in France, Chang participated in a number of French art exhibitions, winning gold medals at the Salons de Printemps in Lyon and in Paris. His initial work was profoundly inspired by Les Grottes de Touen-houang (“Dunhuang Grottoes”) by Paul Pelliot. After returning to China, he co-founded the Dunhuang Art Institute with Zhang Daqian, Liang Sicheng, and Xu Beihong. The Japanese academic world has praised him as a “living national treasure of China” due to the immense historical and artistic value of his artworks.
A Testament to the Artistic and Religious ties uniting China and Japan
In 1985, the Horyū-ji Temple in Nara sent a message via the Buddhist Association of China to Chang Shuhong, inviting him to travel to Japan with his wife, Li Chengxian, and paint murals on sliding doors and screens in two of the nation’s most precious heritage sites: the Horyū-ji Temple itself and the Ungyō-ji Temple in Tokyo. Chang Shuhong completed these works over the course of the next three years, becoming the third modern artist invited by a major Japanese temple to complete China-inspired artworks after Kaii Higashiyama and Ikuo Hirayama. Aware of the profound influence that the Dunhuang Grottoes had on Japanese Buddhist art, Chang chose to paint 16 works inspired by the Gandharva (sky spirites) featured in many of the grottoes’ murals. His contribution to these temples is viewed as a major event in the history of modern Japanese culture.
The work Heavenly Home was completed by Chang Shuhong during his stay in Japan. Chang’s son Jiahuang views Heavenly Home as one of the most important works from the twilight of his father’s career. The painting once belonged to the private collection of Huang Yuanzhu, a Japanese citizen of Chinese descent who once worked as the director of an international news agency in Japan and who spent most of his time travelling back and forth between his homeland and adoptive nation. Huang had dealings with some of China’s greatest modern painters, such as Liu Haisu, and formed a friendship with Chang Shuhong and his wife. After more than 30 years since it was painted, Heavenly Home has finally been revealed to the public in the context of this auction. One of the few large-scale oil paintings by Chang Shuhong on the market, this work has been preserved in pristine condition. Not only does the revealing of this work allow one to gain unique insights into Chang’s artistic career — it is also a golden opportunity that collectors will not want to miss.
An Ingenious Fusion of Artistic and Philosophical Wisdom
During his studies as a young man in France, Chang Shuhong developed a solid grounding in the theories and techniques of modernist painting. In his middle age, he devoted much time to studying and replicating the murals of the Dunhuang Grottoes. Towards the end of his career, his artistic style became increasingly unsophisticated, with spontaneous and graceful brushwork. For example, in Heavenly Home, Chang juxtaposes elements of 1970s still lifes with Dunhuang grotto-inspired works from the 1940s, refining and combining elements from his prior works into order to produce a more varied visual experience. One of the most remarkable characteristics of this work is its unique composition: at the top are elements with religious significance such as Gandharva and plucked instruments, while at the bottom are more mundane objects commonly seen in still lifes such as a vase and fruit. The painting’s composition reflects the artist’s preoccupation with those sky spirits during his time in Japan as well as the duality of heaven and earth evoked in its title. This composition and other experimental techniques demonstrate that the artist continued to push himself out of his comfort zone and innovate right up until his retirement.
In Heavenly Home, the artist applies bright colors such as pale greens, soft pinks, and rich yellows to depict a profusion of flowers in full bloom. The artist further emphasizes their vigor by choosing to paint the fruits, cups, and other objects at the bottom of the canvas in comparatively dull hues. The viewer’s gaze follows the flowers to the top of the canvas, transcending the mundane to greet a magnificent scene of sky spirits dancing and playing instruments. In the bottom left and right corners are fruits such as grapes, apples, plantains, and peaches. These fruits symbolize Chang Shuhong’s sincere wishes for his friends to have many children, to remain healthy in old age, and to live in a state of spiritual and material fulfillment.
Chang Shuhong’s artistic career spanned times of war and peace. Even in periods of turmoil, Chang clung to his artistic ambitions, devoting his time to the discovery, preservation, and replication of murals in the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang. In more peaceful times, he relied upon his immense talent and creativity to reach new heights of artistic expression. This ingenious fusion of Western and Chinese influences is the culmination of decades of successful experimentation.

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

Auction Result:
HKD: 472,000