Ink and colour on paper

100 x 60 cm. 39 3/8 x 23 3/8 in.

Titled, signed and inscribed in Chinese with two artist's seals on top
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

Expressing the Spirit and Reproducing the Nature

Jia Youfu graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Prof. Li Keran. Since the late 60s, he has visited Taihang Mountains over 60 times to seek for inspirations. Jia transcended the traditional practice of painting landscape in panorama by zooming in to the textured rock surface, developing a unique style of landscape paintings. His works were featured in various exhibitions at the National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto, the Yokohama Museum of Art and the National Museum of Singapore, attracting widespread attention at home and abroad.

Mountain after Rain, consisting of three sections, depicts a returning herd at dusk after grazing in the mountains. The central part is primed with a coat of black paint to present the mountain range, interlaced with ochre to outline the zigzagging shapes. The rugged rocks at the top are bathed in twilight, which gives the surface an appealing aura. At the bottom are three farm cattle treading slowly back home on the long trail, alluding to the artist's homesickness. Jia first took a bird's view looking deep down and far away to capture the playful interplay of afterglow and shadow before moving back to the cattle. That subjects at different depths are put together onto a two-dimensional canvas implies the peaceful coexistence of living things in nature.

Jia painted Taihang Mountains to express his projections onto nature, as is shown by the caption on top “I don't paint what it is but what I think it is”. In his non-stop exploration of the beauty of nature, Jia managed to voice his feelings by reproducing the landscape from his own perspective.

Price estimate:
HKD: 120,000 – 220,000
USD: 15,300 – 28,100

Auction Result:
HKD: 566,400