Oil on canvas

82.5 × 82.5 cm. 32 1/2 x 32 1/2 in.

Dated, and signed in English and Chinese on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

The Pursuit of Total Artistic Liberation
The Rhythm of Yao Ching-Jang Abstract Paintings
When talking about Chinese artists living in the United States, Yao Ching-Jang (1941-2000), who died in his prime, can’t be missed. Yao’s progressive thinking has emerged since he was a student at the Fine Arts Department of Taiwan Normal University. In his art career of 40 years, he started with abstract expressionism and briefly turned to “photorealistic” paintings depicting urban landscapes when he moved to New York in the early 1970s. Since the 1980s, he returned to the artistic approach that explores inner spirits and created works composed of simple geometry, lines, and colors, among which the “life series” symbolizes the cosmic energy. Although Yao’s styles have passed through three stages, his unadorned yet profound spirit inclusive of all things remains unchanged. During his stay in the United States, he exhibited at the Louis Meisel Gallery and Styria Gallery successively. All of a sudden, his reputation spread far and wide, and his works were favored by countless collectors. Moreover, he went to China several times to give lectures and hold exhibitions, which has influenced many Chinese contemporary artists of the next generation. His works were also collected by institutions including the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the National Taiwan Museum of Art, and the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts.
The Incomparable Cosmic Tension
Yao once said that he was deeply influenced by the idea “art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible” of the expressionist master Paul Klee. He renovated the mechanics of color and composition, and employed the traditional concept, the meaning outside the image, of painting and calligraphy, to reflect individuals’ consciousness of existence. The presented work, Untitled, which was completed in 1969, is such a representative. In the same year when the work was created, he represented Taiwan in the “10th São Paulo Art Biennial” in Brazil, proving that both the artist and his works gained recognition precociously. In this work, Yao boldly covered most of the canvas with vast expanses of red color which was considered a taboo at that time. The mixture of black, gray, white and blue color, thick or thin, does not only present the oriental aesthetics but also bears the musical rhythm, as if the pigments are flowing freely in the image. Particularly, the central black dot encompassed with white lines appears like a prying eye opening up in the depths of the universe, emitting incomparably powerful energy, which locks on the eyes of viewers and convincingly validates his lifelong pursuit of total artistic liberation.

Price estimate:
HKD: 35,000 - 55,000
USD: 4,500 - 7,100

Auction Result:
HKD: 41,300