Ink and acrylic on paper on canvas

86 x 86 cm. 33 7/8 x 33 7/8 in.

Signed in English, dated and located on upper left; titled and signed in English, located and dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Received as a birthday gift directly from the artist by French artist Ms. Claude De'sert in 1973
Thence by descend to De'sert family
Private Collection, Asia

The Embodiment of Friendship and Family
Mother's Birthday by Chao Chung-Hsiang

Born in an classic upbringing family, Chao Chung-Hsiang received formal art education at the National Institute of Art in Hangzhou. With his footprint spanning Asia, Europe and the Americas, he spent his lifetime at the forefront of the synthesis of Eastern and Western aesthetics. After settling in New York in 1958, he immediately joined the party of American Abstract art while retaining the Chinese elements in his creation. Since the late 1960s, he had been combining Chinese ink and acrylic paint to create the rich texture. His collection is populated by cultural symbols, such as birds, bamboo and yin-yang, in abstract geometrical shapes. His unalloyed patriotism and oriental philosophy of art penetrate every crack and cranny of his paintings, making him one of the most representative icons of Eastern art among his peers in New York.

A Rare Token of Friendship

Chao established himself as early as the 1970s. In 1972, Chao won the New York Creative Artists Public Service Program Award. He hosted a dozen of well-received exhibitions in the city around 1973. The auction proudly presents Mother's Birthday, which carries important meanings for Chao. He started the conception in 1971 and finished the piece in 1973, when he gifted it to his good friend and French artist Ms. Claude De'sert as a birthday present. Given their common profession, they developed close friendship as shown in their private correspondence exchanging creative ideas in the 1970s. Mother's birthday can be regarded as a witness of their international amity, which takes the piece with the theme of family love to a whole new level.

An Innovative Epitome of Familial Love

Chao showed a conspicuous preference for birds in flock in his paintings themed around love and family affection. Mother's Birthday features a group of birds bathed in the warmth of motherly love, conveying he and his brother's best wishes to their mom.

Chao gifted the painting to his friend not only as a token of birthday wishes, but also an exemplary deliverable of his exploration with alternative art forms. Chao had been experimenting with mounting rice paper works on canvas since 1966. In 1970, Chao for the first time enlisted the help of rice paper collage to arrange the composition. It signifies his breakthrough in abstract presentation in the early 1970s and conquest of another career height. The innovative attempt culminated in the auctioned piece created in 1971. The artist segmented the canvas into three parts. The two sides are left in blank for viewer's imagination and stand in contrast with the painted parts. At the center are a set of concentric circles extending outward. Although the momentum is stopped by the paper margin, it transcends the physical limits by resonating with the viewer imperceptibly as the piece overflows with familial love and care.

Chinese ink is another highlight of the piece. The top of the painting features an ink patch with a clear gradient. What lies above are layers upon layers of colorful dots. The artist outlined the mother with diluted ink, which is harmoniously surrounded by the fledglings in the mix of thick ink and blue paint. Chao leveraged the seamless synthesis of oriental elements and western modern techniques to get across his distinctive style of painting to Ms. De'sert while expressing his best wishes to family and ode to art.

Price estimate:
HKD: 300,000 – 400,000
USD: 38,700 – 51,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,003,000