Oil on canvas

100 × 100 cm. 39 3/8 × 39 3/8 in.

Signed in English and dated on bottom right

LITERATURE
1995, Chan Kin-Chung: A Poetry of the Things Seen, Editions You-Feng, Paris, p.14
1996, Chan Kin Chung, Fairmate Art Gallery, Taipei, p.3
EXHIBITED
8 - 30 Jun 1996, Chan Kin Chung, Fairmate Art Gallery, Taipei

PROVENANCE
Fairmate Art Gallery, Taipei
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector from the above

Note: a label of Fairmate Art Gallery, Taipei is affixed on the reverse

Serenity Shines through a Landscape of Etching
The Iconic Work of Chan Kin Chung's Composition Series

Chinese painter Chan Kin Chung is one of the third generation of Chinese artists who lived overseas. Born in 1938 in Ningchuan, Guangdong province, Chan graduated from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, with an academic focus in oil painting in 1961. He then furthered his practice and study at École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1969. Inspired by the simple details of life, Chan's visual landscape depicts observations of city corners, steps, doors and walls of the street. Each study highlights the stirring beauty of forgotten corners and streetways. In 1972, Chan Kin Chung began his Composition series. It instantly became a reputable series, to which caught the attention of the internationally renowned artist Zao Wou-Ki. With the recommendation by Zao to the French Ministry of Culture, Chan's reputation was enriched and made a name as an established artist. Two years later, he was awarded the jury prize for the First Exhibition Sponsored by the State, an exhibition organized by the French Ministry of Culture. With this international award as a major recognition, Chan held a solo exhibition at the Galerie Dariare in Paris in 1975, being the first Asian painter to receive such a sponsorship. Chan's works have been collected by the Fondation Nationale des Arts Moderne, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Guangdong Museum of Fine Arts in China. Amongst many of his prolific works, Composition No. 16, completed in 1981 is an outstanding and mature work of his, and fully encapsulates the iconoclasm of Chan's Composition series.

In Composition No. 16, flowing gray oil paint descends from top to bottom, as if a thunder-storm journey occurred on the surface. In the layering of the canvas, paint mimics the harshness of powerful rain against a building's exterior. In addition, lines of deep accents are marked across the depth of surface, creating the illusion of history and time. Some line markings are short, others are long, yet it is of light brushwork. Together, the markings blend in smoothly with the wall. For instance, the wide white markings across the middle of the canvas suggest a scenery of fish floating in the water through a gray rain curtain, or the eternal deep markings of life's trials and tribulations, silently recording the passage of time. Each marking eludes people's imagination. By the lower quadrant, a rugged crevice is seen. Through the application of brushwork, light and shadow highlight the surrounding surface and its delicate strokes. The hairline of cracks details a picture of gullies and ravines, adding accents of hyper-realism. Chan's powerful depiction is indeed celebrated, with scholar Feng Jicai once said, "These paintings allow us to look away from the bizarre world of reality and return to the simplest and purest aspects of life, enjoying a complete calmness and peace."

Price estimate:
HKD: 50,000 – 80,000
USD: 6,400 - 10,200

Auction Result:
HKD: 60,000