Oil on canvas

70×72 cm. 27 1/2×28 3/8 in

Signed and titled in Chinese and English, dated on reverse

LITERATURE
2012, Yuan Yuan, Edouard Malingue Gallery, Hong Kong, p.16-17
PROVENANCE
Important Private Collection, Asia

Chasing the Soul of Land
Born in Shannxi province, Ding Fang graduated from the College of Art & Design, Nanjing University, and began chasing the light of human civilization early in the 1980’s, through the sensitivity of an artist and the rational expression of an academic scholar. In search of the roots of Chinese culture, Ding Fang created ’Great Soul Painting’ during his vagrancy in western China and became an important spokesperson for the 85 Avant-Garde Art. During that period, he studied under Professor Su Tianci, and this experience has laid him a solid foundation of painting. In the 90’s, he began a continuous exploration of the relations between the wild and the city, history and cultural context, questioning the universal values of human society, thinking about human beings’ present condition in the fluctuation of historical civilization. Different from his contemporary artists who drew from life, Ding Fang insisted on the distance between art and life and always kept in awe of the art in his creation. Accordingly, most of the subjects in his work are the expressions of his thoughts on essential substance, such as the land and the mountain, serious and quaint, triggering deep resonance in the viewer’s heart.
In the end of 1984, he began to create City Series, based on his memory of the banks of the Yellow River and the ancient castles on the desolate Gobi desert. These pictures are elaborate and vigorous, disclosing the sorrow and vicissitudes deep in the history. The work, City Series No.3, was created between 1987 and 1990. The rough strokes, thick pigments layer over layer, coarse texture and the tone with a temperament of classical oil painting are the specific painting language of Ding Fang. David. L. Jeffrey, a professor from Baylor University, USA, once noted that when the viewer focuses on the light of his work, it feels like passing through a mystical prism which separates the intertwined light, refracting the greatness of the creator. Thus it can be seen that his artistic creation has exceeded regional boundaries and generated universal resonance. The work of Ding Fang with persistence in belief, holiness, nobility, tragedy, and profundity has marked a milestone in Chinese contemporary art history.
Extraordinary Talent and Profound Vision
The Artwork
of Hsiao Chin
As a member of the Ton Fang Art Group – one of the most influential and earliest Chinese art groups to emerge after World War II – starting in the 1950s, Hsiao Chin was among the first to introduce Western literary and artistic trends to China. He later moved to Milan, Italy, where he lived for nearly four decades, and together with Li Yuan-chia, the two initiated the Punto International Art Movement, the influence of which still resonates today. “People should achieve an infinite amount of energy and exploration within a limited space, ” Hsiao said when expressing his creative philosophy. “They should learn and understand the profound meaning of life in the non-material world that exists beyond time. I use my clumsy brushwork and primitive colors to express this very notion.” His efforts, in short, are no longer directed at how to reproduce the outside world, but rather at the exploration into how people’s hearts resonate with the entire universe.
Relying on the Perceptive Abilities of the Viewer
Three of Hsiao’s works that collectively span over half a century of creative activity – Untitled （1951, lot34）, Zen No. 127 （1981, lot33）, and Siddhas （between 2008 and 2010, lot35） – perfectly reflect the man’s artistic philosophy and creative attributes during three of different personal stages： from painting with different shades of black ink, to using colored ink to form an entire block of color on the paper, and, finally, to using bright acrylic paints to depict beautiful nebulae in distant cosmic space, thereby exploring the energy embedded deep within people’s souls.
Untitled reveals how Hsiao used Eastern mediums and artistic concepts to respond to the short-lived but tremendous popularity of abstract expressionism in the West. In contrast, the basis for Zen No. 127 is Zen Buddhism, which emphasizes meditation and quiet contemplation. In this work, he uses uniform and repetitive gray brush strokes with the addition of some untouched blank spaces and subtle changes. This is akin to how a Zen master, upon being asked the same question, will give a different answer depending on the level of the questioner, so that the questioner is able to engage in complete self-reflection and break free from the shackles of his or her heart. By employing Zen philosophy in his work, Hsiao is better able to depict his inner world on the paper. The work does not provide a standard answer, or even any answer at all； it is totally dependent on the viewer’s perceptive abilities and imagination.
By the time Hsiao Chin painted Siddhas, he had already experienced all sorts of ups and downs in life, allowing him to acquire a more profound level of wisdom. The title of this work is therefore full of religious meaning. A “siddha” refers to a person who has validated the ultimate truth –leaving behind only inner peace and joy – and who coexists harmoniously with the entire universe. In other words, a siddha’s personal energy field has merged with the energy field of the universe as a whole, and any previous differences and boundaries between the two no longer exist. In this painting, there is no concrete image on the paper, as if depicting the starting point and destination of the human soul. The artist utilizes smooth, natural brushwork, which, when combined with his intuitive use of color, form the picture and relevant spatial composition. Hsiao, however, is not seeking to express his own meditative cultivation. Instead, he seeks to use simple artistic language to express the infinite energy of the universe, thereby freely revealing his inner mind and personality while also reflecting the spiritual realm in which heaven and humanity are united.

Price estimate:
HKD: 45, 000 - 65, 000
USD: 5, 800 - 8, 300

Auction Result:
HKD: 73,160