Acrylic on canvas

186 × 242 cm. 73 1/4 × 95 1/4 in.

Signed and titled in English, dated on the reverse

LITERATURE
1996, Chihung Yang, Mountain Art Culture and Education Foundation, Kaoshiung , p.114-115
EXHIBITED
18 – 27 Oct 1996, Yang Chihung Solo Exhibition, International Art Palace, Beijing

PROVENANCE
Mountain Art Culture and Education Foundation, Kaoshiung
Important Private Collection, Asia

Brilliant Flowing Light, Like the First Glow of Morning
Yang Chihung's Light Wave Ripples Transcend East-West Abstraction

Yang Chihung was born in 1947 and has been called a leading figure in the world of modern Chinese abstract expressionist painting. Yang lived in the United States for more than 40 years where his work and influence gradually established him as a leading figure. In 1984, he became the first Chinese artist to receive sponsorship from the “MoMA P.S.1” and held solo art exhibitions at the Asian American Arts Centre and Costa Rica Museo de Arte Costarricense, receiving great praise from Art Forum magazine. In 1989, Yang received the Asia Outstanding Artist Award from the Governor of New York State. At the same time, he wrote regularly for the Chinese language newspaper Chung Po in New York City and Taiwan's Artist magazine in the 1980s and 1990s, detailing his experience and understanding of Western art in articles that were widely read and influential. Moreover, after large scale solo exhibitions at the 2013 Venice Biennial Parallel Exhibition, Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo in 2015, and Guangdong Museum of Art in 2019, Yang's fame as an artist grew even more.

From Spring to Winter, the Poetic and Heroic Reincarnation

The art creation of Yang Chihung entered the “Botanical Aesthetics” period in 1989. Initially, Yang focused on the presentation of a single season and colour. As the layout and colour became more mature, he gradually extended it to the transitional presentation of seasons. Later, he was able to work on an enormous space, integrating the plants of different seasons with various gestures, which brought out the auctioned work A Passage to Tranquility (Lot 151) in 1994.

A Passage to Tranquility (186x242cm) is the second-largest work of the “Botanical Aesthetics” period shown in the market. On the large canvas, Yang included the scenes of the four seasons, intending to lead the viewers to wander through the peaceful journey of life, experiencing the poet's mind who wrote the line “In one year, withers and thrives once each.” Yang used poetic and melodious brushstrokes to combine those with the freehand brushstrokes learnt from calligraphy. Through a fluid and alternating form and structure, he demonstrated the tension of plant growth in the painting.

In A Passage to Tranquility, plants sprout downwards, grow upwards, and spread in space, forming a ring as a whole, creating the circling seasons. The colours and lines in the painting also change with the seasons: The rich brown earth is the origin of everything, and it gradually changes to green, emerald, dark green, and blue-green, becoming a portrayal of summer. The branches of the plant are flexible and strong, running freely between heaven and earth. The bright yellow and vitality of autumn are connected with it. The plants bear fruit, and the fruit is scattered into the mud, waiting for the spring of the coming year. Through the flow of colours and shapes, the artist created a melody in which the plant forms are fully released. The prosperous and withered plants seen by the viewers all speak of the splendour and spirituality of nature. The intersection of life and spirit brings the viewers into a vast poetic realm of imagination.

Exuberant Heaven and Earth

After the rich life language of Yang Chihung's “Botanical Aesthetics” period, the artist entered his “Organic Abstraction” stream of consciousness phase, which from 2010 evolved into the more vigorous and unrestrained “Eastern Poetics” period, in which he infused the horizontal and vertical tension of Eastern calligraphy with Western -style abstraction. It was at this time that Yang produced the outstanding work Leisure (Lot 152) (2012), which is the perfect representation of his artistic focus at the time.

Leisure depicts a boundless and elegant sunrise scene imbued with exquisite charm, but it is also a mental image created by the artist and titled “leisure” that showcases both his artistic skill and elegant taste. In terms of composition, the picture presents a daybreak scene that starts in the lower-left part of the painting and can be traced to the large thick black wild cursive strokes that converge to capture the richness of time and space. In those areas where the strokes accumulate we see the heat of the orange hue and radiating golden light, like a roaring flame lighting up the world. The extended brushwork resembles floating clouds, made from splashes surging forward, that cross the calm blue sky not shrouded in the light of dawn in the twinkling of an eye. This sense of speed creates a texture that is indomitable and firm, together with a roiling virtual scene between heaven and earth. At the same time, the bold and sweeping strokes, vigorous lines and thick light and shade give rein to the artist's unconscious, drawing forth a flow of the most fundamental and real elements of life. The canvas encompasses the whole world, revealing the magnificence of nature, with calm mental images that leave behind brilliant splendour and light wave ripples that illuminate life.

Price estimate:
HKD: 350,000 - 450,000
USD: 44,600 - 57,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 648,000