Oil on canvas

36 × 28 cm. 14 1/8 x 11 in.

Signed in Chinese on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly by original collector from the artist
8 Apr 2006, Sotheby's Hong Kong Auction, Lot 616
Acquired directly by present important private Asian collector from the above

Note: The original collector once studied in Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts and learned painting under Lin Fengmian and Guan Liang. In the 1960s, he moved to Hong Kong and taught external courses in The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University for many years. He also worked as a journalist and art reviewer and learned seal cutting under Ting Yinyung.

Simplicity on Stage, Detachment in the Pastoral

Guan Liang is most skillful at opera paintings. Among his four hundred or so existing oil paintings, the opera-character themed ones are extremely rare and therefore invaluable. Opera Figures presented this time was originally a gift from the artist himself. The original collector has studied at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, under the guidance of Lin Fengmian. He moved to Hong Kong in the 1960s to work in journalism, art criticism, and to teach at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also studied seal carving with Ting Yinyung. Opera Figures was first exhibited in 2006 after half a century's possession by him and it has been owned by an important Asian collector for fourteen years. This rare piece comes to the market again now.

Simplicity out of Splendidness, Brilliant Brushworks

Opera Figures derives from the Peking Opera The Cowboy, portraying innocent and romantic pastoral scenes through the artist's unique deployment of colors. He deliberately deviates from people's stereotypical view of dressing the characters in simple colors, choosing eye-catching colors such as red, yellow, and blue, to create noble images for ordinary characters. The village girl and cowboy were looking at each other. In between the rough outlines of the characters, we can observe the artist's effortless brushworks and simple coloring.

Meanwhile, the painting has no background color, only painted horizontally in one single color, from the top to the bottom, from the center to the periphery, transitioning from light to dark shades, creating a stage-like halo effect to accentuate the main characters. It is a fine embodiment of the influence of Western Fauvist master Henri Matisse's aesthetic values. However, unlike Matisse's omission of the character's facial expressions in Dance, Guan Liang has borrowed the techniques of “burning ink” from Chinese painting to vividly portray the emerging affection between the village girl and the cowboy, guiding the viewers to immerse themselves in the idyllic pastoral scene and the beauty of simplicity.

Price estimate:
HKD: 600,000 – 1,000,000
USD: 77,400 – 129,000

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,062,000