Ink and colour on paper

51 x 64 cm. 20 1/8 x 25 1/4 in.

Signed in Chinese with an artist's seal on bottom left
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Canada
25 Nov 2013, Christie's Hong Kong Autumn Auction, Lot 1441
Important Private Collection, Asia

The Pond Joining the Sky, Wild Geese Sweeping Across the Boundry
Lin Fengmian's Pursuit of Artistic Aesthetics

Synthesizing the essence of Western and traditional Chinese art into ink paintings, Lin Fengmian is a master skilled in creating touching motifs, where his rich life experience together with his reflections on and philosophy of life is mingled. He advocated that traditional Chinese painting needed reforming. On the other hand, he filtered out the outdated elements, keeping the essential artistic aesthetics from traditional Chinese art. In China Guardian's Spring Auction in HK 2020, Lin's Wild Geese Flying Over Reedbeds is such a masterpiece that delivers the delicate aesthetics.

Layers in Wild Geese Flying Over Reedbeds are carefully handled. In the faraway background lies the broad lily pond whose shoreline joins the skyline, which seamlessly merges the pond into the distant mountains painted by light ink wash. In the foreground there stand straight reeds depicted with thin and thick brushstrokes. The vigorous reeds are interlaced with the stretching mountains in the distance. In the middle ground 6 wild geese sweep upwind at a low altitude, unafraid of the upcoming night. In the front, Lin uses rapid, light and sweeping brushstrokes to represent the reeds dancing in the strong wind. The density and depression of reedbeds set a striking contrast with the lightness of the landscape in the background, which balances the whole view with a sense of opposition and appropriate degree of inclination. Overall, it presents the charm of life and emotions. At the bottom, Li adopts white powder to highlight the translucent and lively water in the pond, glittering among the dark and heavy mountains and rocks. Unfolding a layer and another, the painting combines the solid with the obscure. Meanwhile, Lin unites the spacial composition from Western art and the implicit, tranquil, pure, elegant aesthetics typical of Chinese culture in this painting.

Within the square frame, Lin employs elegant colors, with monochromatic ink as the key tone together the use of blue and grey. There is a sense of softness and tenderness in the gradual change of color and shading. Lin depicts the broad pond, the sky with clouds, the distant mountains and the reedbeds with the similar dark ink brushes, while he uses light ink brushes where the pond joins the sky. The flattened and elongated depiction brings a sense of balance to the overall composition. The raw Xuan paper dipped by ink creates significant light and shadow effects. The high permeability of raw Xuan paper allows water to be absorbed quickly, leaving the colors being penetrating, translucent and blurry. By his masterful techniques and selection of the materials, Lin's Wild Geese Flying Over Reedbeds shows its unique and long-lasting charm.

Price estimate:
HKD: 900,000 – 1,200,000
USD: 116,100 – 154,800

Auction Result:
HKD: --