Mixed media on canvas

31 x 56 cm. 12 1/4 x 22 in.

Stamped with an artist's seal on bottom right; titled in English and Chinese, and dated on the reverse
EXHIBITED
4 – 26 Aug 2018, Hsia Yan and His Times, Eslite Gallery, Taipei

PROVENANCE
Eslite Gallery, Taipei
Private Collection, Asia

Ku Fu-sheng's Flowering Art World

In his whole life pursuing art, Ku Fu-sheng involves his personal emotions and experience into his paintings. Every painting elaborates a specific story that lingers in viewers' mind. When he participated in the Fifth Moon Art Group in his youth in Taiwan, his works featured the bold use of color and twisted, flattened bodies. His stay in Paris witnessed his transformation period. He gradually turned to use mixed media to create abstract painting, and adopted collage and melt in his art creation. In the 1960s Ku Fu-sheng's art came to a third stage, where his unique depiction of human body became the motifs again. The focus of his artworks in this period is set on the human body's expression and collision. It indicates the change of Ku Fu-sheng's mindset during his mature period as well as the inspirations he got in Paris.

A Splendid Wonderland in the South

Ku Fu-sheng leads viewers through a journey to the deep seabed of Genova with his Tropical Delight (Lot 150) In an azure world flourish blooming flowers, which mirrors the artist's enriched and passionate inner world. On the left side of the canvas a surreal scene is depicted – above a rainbow there stands a golden coconut palm, a representation of tropic and ideal. Across the canvas there are two men enjoying swimming, embracing the pleasure and excitement felt above the seabed. Ku Fu-sheng combines sea, his favorite, with the representations of ideals on this painting. The artwork title, “Heaven on Earth” explains perfectly his ideal world.

A Free Spirit in Any Space

Ku Fu-sheng's Dolly (Lot 151) tells another unique narrative. Ku Fu-sheng delineates a young lady standing in the off-white space. With stylish, rebellious burgundy hair, she is dressed in a long dress, holding a mirror and seemingly lost in thought. She could be admiring herself in the mirror, or pondering the pass of youth. In the world she plunges into, there are marvelous dreams she regards as the best in life but doesn't experience in real life. Such scene holds powerful energy as if welcoming a new life and embracing every possibility. With pure and peaceful colors, this painting attracts a serene, attractive moment to represent Ku's gentle, yet dynamic emotions.

Price estimate:
HKD: 62,000 – 82,000
USD: 8,000 – 10,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 84,960