Oil on canvas

140 x 120 cm. 55 1/8 x 47 1/4 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom right; signed in Chinese and titled on the reverse

LITERATURE
2018, Li Qiang's Works, Long Museum, Chongqing, p. 92 - 93
EXHIBITED
22 Sep – 31 Oct 2018, Li Qiang's Works, Long Museum, Chongqing

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

Less is Better, Less is More
The Song of Magnolia by Li Qiang

Li Qiang, graduated from Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in 1985. He started teaching at his alma mater after graduating and embarked on the journey of creativity. Li Qiang reinterprets traditional painting by using flowers as his muse and oil paint as medium, creating an aesthetic context that brings us back to the Song dynasty. He held a large-scale individual exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo in 2015, another solo exhibition at the Long Museum in Chongqing in 2018, which gave art enthusiasts a taste of his extraordinary creativity. We are proud to include one of his creations Magnolia In 2017 No.5 in the auction this time.

Li Qiang, graduated from Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in 1985. He started teaching at his alma mater after graduating and embarked on the journey of creativity. Li Qiang reinterprets traditional painting by using flowers as his muse and oil paint as medium, creating an aesthetic context that brings us back to the Song dynasty. He held a large-scale individual exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo in 2015, another solo exhibition at the Long Museum in Chongqing in 2018, which gave art enthusiasts a taste of his extraordinary creativity. We are proud to include one of his creations Magnolia In 2017 No.5 in the auction this time.

Dazzled by the Blooms
Magnolia In 2017 No.5, starring a heavenly purple magnolia in the season of gold, portraying a scene of serenity from the ancient saying, “a scented fragrance floats under the dusk moon.” Growing up in the city of Chongqing, a city is known for its foggy and rainy climate, and the uneven landform. Li Qiang often gives a gleam of this beloved city in his paintings. The zigzagging roads, the conception of the images, the visual ambiguity and layering. Li Qiang's creations are always carefully structured and full of the beauty and depth of poetry, making art lovers longing for more.

Distance is the Soul of Beauty
The use of unsaturated brown, lilac and yellow in this work appropriately expresses the appreciation of subtle beauty and modesty in the Eastern culture. Li Qiang paints the leaves with soft yet firm brush strokes, seemingly weak and light, yet it forms a harmonious tension with the flower stems. It draws on the strong contrasts between light and dark in Western art technique - Chiaroscuro, in order to build up the suspense in this graceful painting. The flowers are like shadows floating in the air, merging illusion and reality, and it accurately and vividly conveys the unique aesthetic connotation in traditional Chinese paintings.

Price estimate:
HKD: 200,000 – 300,000
USD: 25,500 – 38,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 295,000