Acrylic and ink on paper

35.3 × 43.5 cm. 13 7/8 x 17 1/8 in.

Stamped with one artist’s seal on upper left

LITERATURE
2013, Walasse Ting – Blue Sky in My Heart, Long Men Art Projects, Shanghai, p.157
EXHIBITED
11 Oct – 30 Nov 2013, Selected Records from the Walasse Ting Archive – Exhibition of Blue Sky in My Heart, Long Men Art Projects, Shanghai

PROVENANCE
Long Men Art Projects, Shanghai
Private collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certification of authenticity issued by Walasse Ting Estate Archive, New York

Chinese Artists in the United States
“Ku Fu-sheng, the man in front of me, is still the same person that I first met more than 30 years ago – a painter with an innocent heart of a child and courageously embracing art, which means everything to him. His frenzied pursuit of art doesn’t hesitate at all because of any setbacks. At the end of his life, he died for love, and the lover is art.” In 1963, the literateur Bai Xianyong encountered a long-separated old friend Ku Fu-sheng, the artist working in the United States alone for 30 years, and wrote the text above. Although it’s Gu that his words were about, it’s also a portrayal of the group of Chinese artists working in the US in the early 20th century.
Since the beginning of the last century, many artists have left China and traveled overseas, immersing themselves in Western art. The center of art world used to be Paris, which was gradually replaced by New York in the late 1940s when the wave of abstract expressionism set off. The successive art movements of Pop, Photorealism, Minimalism, and Happening Art in the 1950s have made New York the heart of contemporary art. Looking back to the history of Chinese modern art, we can see the majority of Chinese artists in the 20th century either went to France or the United States. In the early days, racism and Chinese exclusion were more violent in the United States than in Europe. It is not hard to imagine the suppression and indifference the artists have confronted as the “outsider.” However, in the golden era of art integration, they persevered with artistic creation, enriching themselves by incorporating the essence of local culture and speaking for themselves through artworks. Art is their ultimate belief. In this Spring, China Guardian Hong Kong presents the special auction “Chinese artists in the United States”, featuring ten artists including David Wu Ject-Key, Yun Gee, Chao Chung-Hsiang, Walasse Ting from the first generation; Chuang Che, Han Hsiang-Ning, Ku Fu-sheng of the Fifth Moon Group; the leading figure of Ton Fan Group, Hsia Yan; as well as Yao Ching-Chang and Yeh Tzu-Chi. Through their artworks, the brilliance of a great era is unfolded in front of us.

The Beauty in Colored Ink, as the Blooming Spring
The Art of the Harem Knight, Walasse Ting
“I devote all my life to painting, to my abundant feelings through the brush, to illustrate vital freshness like the blooming spring.”
—Walasse Ting
Walasse Ting was born in Jiangsu Province in 1928. In 1952, he traveled around Hongkong and Paris and got acquainted with the members of CoBrA. As the center of the art world shifting from Paris to New York, Ting went to New York in 1958 to embrace more brilliant and avant-garde art styles. New York has become the real turning point of Ting’s art, inspiring his revolution of colors. In the 1960s, the New York art scene was prosperous. Ting’s art has largely combined and integrated various artistic styles and was highly recognized by the American art world, such as winning the Guggenheim Fellowship Award in 1970. However, Ting was not satisfied with this achievement, further developing his art style from abstraction to semi-figuration in the 1970s. With the themes of female figures and flowers, he employed acrylic colors as the material and established his art language with exceptional personal features. While living and working in the U.S., Ting has held over 30 large-scale exhibitions. His works were collected by more than 40 international art institutions, including the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, becoming influential worldwide.
This time, we’ll present eight works of Walasse Ting completed during his stay in the U.S. His magnificent art, just like his brilliant life, is as beautiful and everlasting as summer flowers.
The Exquisitely Dainty and Ravishingly Beautiful Western Women
The 1970s was the “Western Beauty Period” of Walasse Ting. The bold and vivid acrylic color gradually replaced monochrome ink, and the depiction of charming western women unveiled of Ting’s theme of flowers and beauties. In 1977, he assembled his works on this theme from 1973 to 1975, designed and edited the catalog Red Mouth in New York, in which A Kiss (Lot 663), A Kiss is included. Influenced by abstract expressionism, Ting integrated all acrylic colors with passion. His way of splatter painting conveyed the unrestrained spirit of the women and the cherries in the background are like the luring red lip of a woman — a kiss, a kiss, playing upon the strings in the heart.
Ting successively got acquainted with the artists Sam Francis and Tom Wesselmann in New York, influenced by the activism of the former and the erotic pop art of the latter. In the painting, Peek-A-Boo (Lot 664), created in 1986, on canvas instead of paper, the colors appear more intense and enthusiastic, wildly spreading upon the canvas and representing the flowing interaction between human and the landscape. A woman hides in the blossoming flowers, so glamorous that the viewers couldn’t tell whether the flower or the woman is more beautiful.
Glancing (Lot 659), another sketch completed in the 1990s combines concise lines with rich acrylic colors. The intimate gesture of the woman holding a fan appears like a little bird, whose imperceptible eyes imply infinite thoughts, attracting people to savor with heart.
The Oriental Ladies with Incomparable Charm
In the 1980s, Walasse Ting adopted a different approach and began to use xuan paper. Infusing ink with acrylic paints, with the lines as bones and acrylic colors as the soul, he created these slim and graceful female figures.
The work, Three Dancing Girls (Lot 662), reached a peak of the Tang Dynasty charm of lady figures. The three girls are dressed in robes, with their hair coiled in pao jia style () of the late Tang Dynasty. The girl on the left wears a flower on her head, while the one on the right with a golden bu yao () with tassel. The girl in the middle stands with elegance, presenting the extreme grace and beauty of Tang. In the Tang Dynasty, parrots were often raised in court, and women were usually good at horse riding. In Beauty and Horse (Lot 665), the spirit of that time was vividly and delicately conveyed. Meanwhile, acrylic paint delivers a tune of western romance, conveying a romantic atmosphere and feeling of love.
Although ink paintings are not the focus of Walasse Ting, the traces of ink line have always been present in his works. Beauty with a Fan (Lot 661)presents the classic oriental charm through ink colors, rare yet fully revealing the confidence and skills of the master.
The Secret of Cats, the Companion of Life
In Walasse Ting’s eyes, animals are another kind of beautiful lives worth of praise besides women and flowers, and they are his companions in life. You and I Sleep Same Bed (Lot 660) expressively depicts the similar indolent expressions of a woman and a green cat, demonstrating the beauty of all life. Blue Cat (Lot 666) vividly illustrates a plump cat with sharp eyes in vigorous blue. “I take some paints from my studio and sprinkle some over the pigeons. Then I paint a blue cat as my companion.” Ting’s verse has become a portrayal of his life.
In the art world of New York, Walasse Ting was wild and uninhibited like the brightest star. Through the magical brush, he sang the eternal praise of beauty, youth, and life.

Price estimate:
HKD: 55,000 - 95,000
USD: 7,100 - 12,200

Auction Result:
HKD: 88,500