Ink and colour on paper

47 x 84 cm.18 1/2 x 33 1/8 in.

Signed and dated in Chinese；stamped with the artist’s seal on the lower side
LITERATURE National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei, Universe Is My Heart, 1999, p.95.
Hanart T Z Gallery, Hong Kong, Liu Kuo-sung: A Retrospective View, 2005, p.78.
EXHIBITED Singapore, STPI Singpore Tyler Print Institute, Liu Kuo-sung: A Retrospective View, May 2005.

Liu Kuo-Sung’s Metamorphosis of the Moon: 76
In late 1968, Liu saw on television and in newspapers and magazines snapshots of the Earth taken by the American spacecraft Apollo 8 from behind the Moon and, with his extraordinary sensitivity, started the making “space painting” that is abstract in an oriental way. The first work from the period is Which Is Earth?, completed in early 1969, in which the square-plus-sphere composition inspired by the Chinese Lantern Festival is reconstructed into a sphere-plus-arc in response to the mass media images of the Earth appearing alongside the Moon. The work won first prize at the international “Mainstream International Exhibition” held in the USA that very year, earning him critical acclaim as the first and foremost painter of space.

Thus, the period between the late 1960s and the early 1970s has become a pivotal phase and an important watershed for the artist.

The Space series can be further divided into the sub-series of the Moon and the Sun. A classic piece from the Moon series is Metamorphosis of the Moon: 76 , dated 1971 and in ink and colour, featuring the Moon and the Earth confronting one another. On a special sheet of rice paper made with bagasse and against a ground broad-brushed in bright yellow, the Earth, delineated in swift ink strokes with a dry brush , is seen in the foreground to face the Moon, collaged and tinted, at the top. The momentum of the uninterrupted lines reflects the confidence of an artist in the prime of his career. Reinforced by broad strokes in wet ink, the texture of the mountains is represented in white, which results from fibres plucked from the paper wherever appropriate, evoking the expressive calligraphic beauty of Chinese art. Across the painting surface, the translucent yellow hues seem to be, like the Moon, glowing on their own. Simple and yet captivating, this early masterpiece demonstrates how oriental appeal can be achieved with innovative techniques and manipulation of the brush and ink to excite the viewer’s imagination of and identification with the infinite universe.

Cascade of Clouds
In Liu’s works, which are predominantly spectacular landscapes and cosmic scenes, there is always an emphasis on dynamism and cosmic nebulousness.

Association with landscapes often creeps through his unrestrained abstraction, as aptly exemplified by the present lot. In the vast composition, clouds tumble like waterfalls between mountain ranges. By playing down on colour, texturing and deliberate techniques, the painter successfully sets off the natural harmony between the tones and impact of ink. Through sophisticated manipulation, ink is allowed to flow freely to produce a rich variety in shade and thickness such that rays of imperial purplish light pierce through the clouds in the distance to entice and invigorate the viewer. By filtering out the bright colours, Liu has effortlessly and subjectively interpreted the majesty of natural landscape with such sincerity that the scene is miraculously even more akin to traditional Chinese landscape painting.

Price estimate:
HKD：300,000 - 500,000
USD：38,700 - 64,500

Auction Result:
HKD: 690,000