Oil on canvas

160 × 160 cm. 63 × 63 in.

Signed, titled, and dated in Chinese and English on the reverse

LITERATURE
2008, From Heaven to Earth――Chinese Contemporary Painting, Damiani Publishing House, Bologna, p.15
2009, China: Renaissance of the Contemporary, 24 Hours Culture Publishing House, Milan, p.191
2009, Chen Ke, Kehrer Verlag Publishing House, Berlin, p.78-79
2014, Asian African Art, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, p.84
EXHIBITED
11 Dec 2009-7 Feb 2010, China: Renaissance of the Contemporary, Royal Palace of Milano, Milan

PROVENANCE
Star Gallery, Beijing
Acquired directly by present important private European collector from the above

The Beauty and Sorrow of "Her"
Auction Debut of Chen Ke's Early Important Masterpiece

As a representative Chinese artist born in the 1970s, Chen Ke grew up in Sichuan. She spent 11 years in Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and its attached high school from high school to graduate student. Her creations use the conflict of reality and fiction to reveal the contemporary social hidden valuable emotion, using all kinds of media to construct theatres for her protagonists. Chen Ke signed a contract with Star Gallery only two years after graduation from university and was then represented by a top international gallery Perrotin in 2016. Her works are rare in the primary market, and even the film star Sophie Marceau is a collector of her. In the auction market, her works are often sold at multiples of the estimate. This autumn, the female theme "Her Era" presents the artist's work Pearl created in 2007. As an essential representative work in her early stage, Pearl has been collected by an important collector in Europe and was published in many important overseas Chinese contemporary art publications. It also appeared in an important exhibition of the same name in Milan. The original collector carefully kept this precious work for 15 years after its first release, and this time it is this rare work's remarkable debut for auction.

The Glitter of Ordinary Life

In Pearl, two girls with near-identical hair and clothes stand opposite each other. The uniform clothing reveals the memory of a generation of Chinese teenagers, just like the reflection projected by the mirror and the artistic conception of self-dialogue. The girl on the left shows her back and hands hanging down her skirt. The girl on the right has slender eyes round nose, like the "girl next door", who can be seen everywhere around. Her red scarf speaks of the young age, while she clasps a large and beautiful pearl in front of her breast in both hands. The pearl illuminates her cheek like fine ceramic. Chen Ke used precious and pure pearls to symbolize a young girl's flawless and ignorant heart. Although each girl looks "the same" on the outside, each individual is unique, telling a seemingly familiar but shining life story.

The Surrealist River

At the bottom of the painting, the artist drew a river symbolizing time, which reaches the girl's calf, revealing the "surrealism" feature. Chen Ke used the unique female perspective to interpret the girl's growth process with the artistic conception of "entering the water". The seemingly calm river is actually turbulent, just like the unknown ups and downs in the growth, waiting for them to experience.

A Dialogue with Time Tunnel

Susan Sontag, a feminist writer, once said: "Autobiography is an occasion to purge oneself of vanity while advancing the project of self-understanding." The "young girl" images in Chen Ke's early paintings have the same appeal. She is like a magician, and the audiences are her collaborators in a theatre of childhood memories. In the background of Pearl, Chen Ke used grey-brown pigments and the painting techniques of traditional Chinese ink painting to show the emptiness and far-reaching artistic conception. Comparing with the characters full of contemporary elements, it seems to pull people into the time tunnel, showing the artist's grand narrative ambition and exquisite conception.

Chen Ke is not satisfied with only showing the visual pleasure and creativity the painting brings but also describes women's growth and life experience. This introspective approach makes her unique from her peer artists' style. The beauty and sorrow in Pearl are gentle and restrained. The artist seems to be telling her story from the perspective of others, and the charm of art is quietly around you and me.

Price estimate:
HKD: 900,000 - 1,500,000
USD: 114,600 - 191,100

Auction Result:
HKD: 2,400,000