Ink and colour and mixed media on paper

182.5 x 92 cm. 71 3/4 x 36 1/4 in.

Signed and dated in Chinese, stamped with an artist's seal on middle right
PROVENANCE
Modern Art Gallery, Taichung
23 Nov 2014, Christie's Hong Kong Autumn Auction, Lot 110
Important Private Collection, Asia

Pioneer of Technique, Philosopher of Cosmology
Liu Kuo-Sung's Vast Realm of Ink Painting

Liu Kuo-Sung is universally recognized as the Father of Modern Chinese Ink Painting. He set up Fifth Moon Society in 1956 to pioneer the reform of ink painting, which culminated in the 1960s with him making the most of the common ground of ink works and abstract art by incorporating collage, airbrush and water rubbing into his creation. American art critic John Canady hailed him as “a dashing exponent of traditional Chinese landscape painting hybridized with modern abstraction.” Liu is the living Chinese artist whose works are collected by the largest number of museums in the world. Sun and Moon: Floating? for instance, is sitting at the British Museum. Sun and Moon (Lot 92) presented by this auction is also a masterpiece of the Space series that fuses Liu's artistic achievements across his career. Xiaosanxia Journal (Lot 93) uncommonly features brushwork, which not only blends perfectly with the tone of the painting and adds more aesthetic connotations to the towering mountains.

The Modernization of Ink Painting
The Space series is based on the Apollo 8 mission that produced the image Earthrise in 1968. During his trip over Europe and the United States in 1966, Liu learned about Salvador Dali's surrealist fantasies, Mark Rothko's composition and Adolph Gottlieb's minimalist rendition of sun and moon. Inspired by these trailblazing artists, Liu started working on the series themed cosmos mystery with sun and moon as the subjects to commemorate the historically significant first moon landing.

As a well-done piece in the series, Sun and Moon took Liu as much as 16 years to finish. It exemplifies his mastery of water rubbing, a technique that he has been practicing since 1973. After writing an article in 1974 proposing to reform zhongfeng (the use of the middle part of the brush tip), Liu took a break from creation and began extensive experimentation with ink rubbing over the following decade. He eventually reproduced ink paintings with both traditional texture and modern flavour by applying texture strokes onto his early invention Kuo-Sung paper. Liu was able to complete the large-size rubbing in Sun and Moon, in which his abstract calligraphic strokes carry philosophical messages and extraordinary power that captures the greatness of the universe.

The Philosophy of Celestial Mechanics
The artist sprayed acrylic paint to present the astronomical bodies in Sun and Moon. The fully saturated sun stands in parallel to the crescent, reminding the viewer of the symbolic meanings of these two planets in ancient times. Liu deployed the technique across the paper by rubbing the Earth landscape on two sides and plucked fibres from the paper to make up the white lines representing puffs of wind that carry pebbles and dust. He worked on both sides of the paper, and the colours on two sides can meet and blend into a new colour. With the application of teal paint, the painting resembles those blue-green landscape works in the Tang and Song dynasties, qualifying as the perfect embodiment of Liu's artistic attainments.

Despite the influence of Western art theories and modern technologies, Liu never steps away from the traditional culture. Chinese landscape painters since the Song dynasty have been seeking the coexistence of man and nature in their creation. Detaching himself from the surrounding world, Liu took an aerial perspective looking down at the sun and the moon together with the Creator. The painting suggests that all living things are born out of default planetary movements. The artist expressed his philosophical reflections on the lunar phase and the relationship between man and nature by placing sun and moon against each other, a composition that may remind the viewer of the yinyang concept.

Recollection of Sanxia
Included in the Hundred Scenes of Sanxia, Xiaosanxia Journal is also a piece worth collecting. As the representative of Taiwanese landscape painters, Liu went to Sanxia in 1995 to participate in the abovementioned painting project organized by China Artists Association and China Calligraphers Association in commemoration of the country's magnificent scenery. The artist painted deep gorges that flanked the Yangtze River from afar. The rocks in light grey come off imposing yet elegant with their granular texture and the dynamic colour gradient thanks to the water rubbing technique. The bushes and trails scattered around the forest can stimulate the viewer's imagination. The natural texture and abstract free-flowing strokes perfectly reproduce the artist's mental imagery and give away his interpretation of the grand gorges.

Price estimate:
HKD: 2,500,000 – 3,200,000
USD: 318,800 – 408,000

Auction Result:
HKD: --