Oil on canvas

100×100 cm 39 3/8×39 3/8 in

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom left
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist by present Asian ownerIn Chinese oil painting society， Luo Er’chun is fabled by many as a “hermit” - never has he failed to keep a low profile throughout his persistent plowing of his beloved land for more than five decades， during which he has churned out a legion of meaningful yet romantic works. Despite the sweeping post-colonialism tide which has taken the center stage ever since the 1990s， he has been invariably adamant in safeguarding the heritage of Chinese art， instead of recanting his faith. Over the past 20 years， he has made frequent hops between China and France as an ambassador facilitating a growing number of exchanges between the Chinese and French art circles， without sparing any effort in conserving the proper genre of Chinese art in a global context. To this end， he has foraged liberally the western field and thus acquired a profound learning from the outside world， which was later applied systematically into his own endeavors in artistic creation guided by the doctrine “East-Meets-West”. Most of his works lay stress on the alignment of shades and shadows in an eclectic selection of rich colors， while featuring a smooth unification of pictorial variety， soul， existence and selfhood. Thanks to his distinct style， he has been considered as a heavyweight trailblazer in the realm of contemporary art.
This piece， titled A Girl on the Grassland， was done by him in 1990 and later bought by one of his old friends in the 1990s. Put up at auction now after having been kept in store for two decades， this work is a rarity that represents the artist’ train of thought in his earlier years of painting. He has a particular relish for portraying young girls of the Yi nationality in China. Unlike those portraits also of his which impressed us with a sober and inornate combo of colors， this work is an eye-opener of vibrant coloring and chipper deportment： the girl sitting demurely on the grassland has a beauteous face which is airily handsome and oozes a pulsing tinge of youth. Her complexion is done in colors which seem to fade into the backdrop yet stand out sharply， with her eyes emanating a tincture of confident dignity dappled with a looming silhouette of composure. Taken as a whole， the main hues impress the audience with robustness in coloring and dexterity in rhyming， to the accompaniment of faded impressionism， which appears to be green flames flickering in whirly air currents redolent of human youth， mental vitality and spiritual ambition all wrapped up in a structured manner.
In the painting， the young girl of Chinese Yi nationality and the white dog lying prone close to her are thoughtfully aligned at a distance， against splashes of a mix of yellow and green pigments on the whole canvas， giving rise to a celestial visual effect which enables a peek into the refined inner world in the artist’s mind’s eye. Instead of going into full depth in his clair-obscure and dioramic techniques， Luo Er’chun exhibits how a sophisticated painter could give a sharper edge to his portrait plus a stronger dose of color saturation， resulting effortlessly in an eyeful of intriguing exoticism – divinely each collector’s firm favorite.

Price estimate:
HKD: 250,000 – 350,000
USD: 32,100 – 44,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 413,000