Oil on canvas

114x89.5 cm. 44 7/8 x 35 1/4 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom right; signed in Chinese and numbered on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia
29 Nov 2010, Ravenel Hong Kong Autumn Auctions, Lot 539
Important Private Collection, Asia
1 Oct 2017, Sotheby's Hong Kong Autumn Auctions, Lot 639
Acquired by present important Asian collector from the above

A Rock-Solid Body of Flesh and Blood
The Spiritual Cornerstone in Zhou Chunya's Artistic Journey

“Stones are not able to talk; therefore, they are the most likeable of all things”.
——Lu You

As a representative of the backbone of Chinese contemporary art, Zhou Chunya is hailed as the leading figure in Neo-Expressionism that integrates Chinese and Western ethos. His forward-looking artistic vision, keen aesthetic judgment, and solid painting techniques have enabled him to be comfortable of and confident with his unique style of expression. Independent from the aesthetics of Scar Literature, local literature and the new waves of ethos, with his avant-garde yet traditional spiritual and aesthetic pursuit, he has become one of the most recognized artists in contemporary China.

Spirit from Ancient Time to Nowadays

After returning to China from Germany in 1988, Zhou Chunya pioneered Chinese contemporary literati style painting under the influence of German Neo-Expressionism and the traditional Chinese literati painting. Since 1990, he has depicted traditional theme of rocks and stones with flowing and unruly brushstrokes and painted his first representative series of work, establishing his place in the contemporary Chinese art world. He admires the natural appearance of stones depicted in Chinese poetry, unrefined yet exquisite and beautiful, but he is not satisfied with the gentle and inert character of the stone in the scrolls. He has broken free from the traditional literati style and restored the majesty and the simplicity of rocks with the power of material existentialism, which has brought forth thoughts on the issue of violence and pornography in contemporary art. With his meticulous conception and poignant visual expressiveness, he has imbued power in color to challenge the norms of visual habits and blurred the boundary between oil painting and ink painting with his anti-rational and anti-natural attempt, creating a unique contemporary landscape that is both west and east, yet neither east nor west.

Lingering Redness, Painting spiritual Souls

“The origin of Peach Blossom series is the Red Rock.”
——Zhou Chunya

Created in 1999, Red Rock is another milestone creation of Zhou Chunya under the theme of red rock, after the Stone Series-Ya'an Shangli that has astounded Chinese contemporary art circles. In the painting, the artist uses rose red and brown as the background, creating a quiet and soft, hazy and mysterious atmosphere with smooth and delicate brushstrokes, concealing all visible concrete forms, making the stone stand out. At the same time, the subtle transition between the outline of the rock and the background merges the subject image and the background into a cohesive entity, as if there is a glimpse emerging from the chaos at the conception of the universe, which brings an enduring sense of Zen to the viewers.

In 1994, Zhou Chunya traveled to Ya'an and was touched by the delicate and rich texture of the round red stones at the beach. The Red Stone series came out of this and has become his most beloved subject ever since. The well-known Peach Blossom Series also originated from this. Different from the large area of red in Ya'an Shangli, Zhou Chunya uses the thickness of the paint to entail a sense of volume for the rocks. In this mysterious and abstract painting, the thick texture in the center of the stone becomes the focal point, while the light color below embodies a sense of retreat. The bright color on the upper left seems to inject some liveliness into the stone, emphasizing the sacred meaning of light. The rough brushstrokes of the stone make pigment particles shimmer like stars, as if the object were wrapped in a layer of luminous aura. The shadow casted on the right side of the stone was atmospheric, leaving some traces in the sky as if a comet flew by, which generates a sense of boundlessness within a limited space. The heroic spirit of independence and detachment imbued in the stones was the evidence of the artist's endeavor to oscillate between tradition and innovation.

Floating Greens with Fondness to Nature

Compared with similar works in the same theme, Red Stone uses a lot of brown to create a deep connection with the land on which it rests, and the dynamic colors on the canvas are deeply intertwined to reflect the movement of the greens and the stream. The vibrant view of spring where trees turn green and flowers blossom denotes the author's simple yet profound interest in nature. The brushstrokes create a unique texture on the stone, as if the protagonist in the painting emerges from the heaven, possessing both the fiery blood and the cold heart, displaying a vibrant and magnificent life condition. It is precisely based on the opposition between hot and cold and the alternation between strength and weakness, that gives this work a modern vibe. With a weighty spiritual trait, and through a beating red stone, Zhou Chunya creates a rock-solid body of flesh and blood.

Price estimate:
HKD: 2,500,000 – 3,500,000
USD: 322,600 – 451,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 3,304,000