Oil on fiberboard

45.8 × 30.6 cm. 18 x 12 in.

Signed in English, dated and numbered on bottom right

LITERATURE
2020, Ting Yinyung Catalogue Raisonné: Oil Paintings, Rita Wong, The Li-Ching Cultrual and Educational Foundation, Taipei, p.374-375
PROVENANCE
Xiong Yuying, a disciple of Ting Yinyung from Guangdong, acquired directly from the artist
Private Collection, Asia

With Artistic Spirit Even Simple Strokes Can Create a Masterpiece
'Lakeside Scene' – Owned for over 50 Years by One of Ting Yinyung's Students

Despite the ups and downs of his artistic career and regardless of the circumstances in which he found himself, Ting Yinyung never fell into the trap of embracing convention or being overly cautious. Instead, he established a distinctive artistic style based on oil painting, ink painting and seal carving.

Great Art Produced at a Creative Peak

From the 1960s-1970s, Ting experienced another creative peak, painting works that showcased the artistic appeal of vivid life through figures and landscape motifs in the Fauvist school style. The auctioned work Lakeside Scene comes from a later period in the artist's career when his brushwork was more mature and which on completion he presented as a gift to his first female student in Hong Kong Ms. Hsiung Yu-ying, who kept the work as a cherished memento, making this the first time the painting has been seen in public in 50 years. Moreover, of the more than 350 oil paintings by Ting, 13 have landscape motifs, making this a particularly rare item that has attracted much interest.

Charm of Form and Color, Full of Life

Perhaps the most notable feature of Ting Yinyung's oil painting landscapes is the way in which he combines traditional calligraphic brushwork and the unrestrained colors of the Fauvist School, at which he was bolder and more skilled in later years. This approach is evident in Lakeside Scene, in which Ting uses simple strokes to depict a radiant and enchanting spring lakeside scene in a mountain forest. The nearby buildings tower up from the freshly grown grass, surrounded by trees composed of straight lines and colored points that dance in the wind. The artist creates an atmosphere wherein viewer almost feel the spring breeze caressing their face; with two towering cypress trees at the side of the picture, Ting uses his self-made goat hair brush to mix the oil colors, creating rhythmic lines that have the depth of oil painting and speed of calligraphy. These huge trees “protect” the homes, while with the green-yellow straight strokes to the right the artist uses the center tip principle to highlight subtle changes in oil color texture. The brush is pressed down to make the green daubs on the branches, with the brushstrokes becoming progressively lighter left to right. The strokes rise and fall in measured calligraphic tones but are also finished without hesitation, giving the object outlines a sense of lightness and vigor, but also imbuing the work with an Eastern charm of “softness and hardness combined.”

Although Lakeside Scene does not have the light-shade contrast of the Impressionist School, the large areas of saturated royal blue, bright yellow and emerald green create a visual feel as though the scene is bathed in brilliant sunshine. The colors radiate vigor and vitality, so the picture showcases a color tension and line charm similar to that of Matisse. However, where Ting is perhaps even more adept is in the way he liberates objects from the confines of their outlines, relying entirely on the colors to organize the painting. His brush work also highlights the sense of speed and strength that inform a modern industrial society. In this way, Ting's use of simple color narration highlights the “freehand” style Eastern landscape view, the tranquil side of the lake contrasted with the individual visual impacts and spiritual tumult brought to the fore by material society.

Dreaming of Returning Home, Ideas Guiding Painting

Although Ting Yinyung paints from real life, his objective is not “simple re-presentation.” In 1949, Ting arrived in Hong Kong alone and was separated from his family for almost three decades. He took that inescapable sense of homesickness and poured it into the lakes and mountains he painted, which is why Lakeside Scene, showcases exactly this sort of artistic encounter. In the distance we can see the choppy waves on the lake and a fishing boat heading for the other bank, an allusion to the artist's deepest heartfelt desire. At the end of the body of water, Ting depicts an erratic horizon in dark red, and the blue clouds above with two simple strokes, creating an ingenious visual echo with the surging sea below. From this we can see the more random brushwork in the artist's later works and how it conveys the primitive life force of nature. As part of the juxtaposition and overlapping of “form” and “color,” as Ting entered his 70s he took his understanding of the vicissitudes of life and “transposed those feelings to the scenery he depicted.” When viewers look at the details of the painting they can see the emotional life journey of the artist, though even then he still works tirelessly with every stroke and without fear to craft a cultural coming together of tradition and modernity.

Price estimate:
HKD: 800,000 – 1,500,000
USD: 103,200 – 193,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,038,400