Ink and color on paper

188 × 45.5 cm. 74 x 17 7/8 in.

Stamped with one artist’s seal, signed in Chinese, and dated on bottom left

LITERATURE
2010, Nature as Mental Tranfiguration, Sincewell Gallery, Kaohsiung, p. 43
EXHIBITED
6 Feb - 21 Mar 2010, Nature as Mental Tranfiguration, Sincewell Gallery, Kaohsiung

PROVENANCE
Sincewell Gallery, Kaohsiung
Private Collection, Asia
24 Nov 2013, Christie’s Hong Kong Autumn Auction, Lot 191
Private Collection, Asia

A Rising Moon through the Ages
How Liu Kuo-sung Promoted the Modernization of Chinese Ink Painting
Looking back on the 20th century, after the Second World War, Abstract Expressionists (including Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko, and other artists) emerging from New York radically abandoned figurative representation in favor of expressing themselves through simple colors and shapes. It was undoubtedly the one art movement that had the most profound impact on later generations. At that time, this art trend swiftly swept across the European continent and affected a group of Taiwanese artists who strived to create equally valuable abstract Asian art. Among them, Liu Kuo-sung, known as the “father of modern ink painting”, is undoubtedly the most representative figure, with his works having been collected by more than 70 institutions such as the British Museum and the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
Ever-Changing and Flexible, Like a Game of Go
Influenced by the global wave of Abstract Expressionism, Liu Kuo-sung started to consider ways of innovating Chinese ink painting. He experimented with the use of his brush, various media, expression techniques, and so on, saying, “If you encounter something that can’t be expressed by brush and ink, you must choose new tools, materials, or techniques to open up a new path.” When the need arose, he even revolutionized the “center brush” and “ink brush” concepts, which not only caused heated discussion and opposition from conservative artists, but also promoted the modernization process of traditional Chinese ink painting.
To be clear, Liu does not want to completely negate existing practices or break away from tradition. Instead, he understands and recognizes tradition in a different way than his predecessors and finds a way to subvert and re-create it. He believes that abstraction has been present in Chinese painting since ancient times but was limited by people’s narrow ideas so much that it was unable to develop. If the parts outlined by the brush are regarded as points and lines and if a splotch of ink is regarded as a smudge of color, are traditional Chinese ink paintings not abstract works that reflect the inner spirits of their creators? Liu believes that painting is like playing Go. It requires both overall planning and flexible adjustment of detail when considering the actual state of the creation in question.
Revealing the Mysteries of the Universe
In July 1969, Apollo 11 successfully landed on the surface of the moon. The images transmitted to Earth greatly promoted the development of science and even had a positive impact on the arts and humanities. They also prompted Liu to create his most iconic Cosmic Landscape series, of which Rising Moon, completed in 2008, is a representative work. Liu utilizes the classic composition of Chinese monumental style landscape paintings, but what he shows to viewers is no longer a familiar Chinese landscape, but unique scenery from space, with Earth below and the moon above. At the bottom of the image, he uses his self-invented wrinkling technique to portray Earth as seen from space. Circles are superimposed one by one, starting from the middle and moving toward the top. The more upward they go, the more closely they are to each other, their color changing from nearly transparent to thickly white, reflecting the cycle of the waxing and waning of Earth’s satellite, repeated again and again over hundreds of millions of years. The work also implies how much there still is outside the picture that humankind has yet to discover.
In Rising Moon, Liu utilizes cold colors such as white and blue to express the infinity of time and space, inspiring the viewer’s fascination with the mysteries of the universe (which in traditional landscape painting was and is done by ink and brush). Liu therefore carries on the goal of ancient artists to use painting as a means to express natural beauty but does it with brand-new, modern modes. This is not to mention the fact that 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the landing on the moon, making this work all the more precious and meaningful.

Price estimate:
HKD: 950,000 - 1,500,000
USD: 121,800 - 192,000

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,121,000