Oil on canvas

97 × 130 cm. 38 1/4 x 51 1/8 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied with a certificate of authenticity with signature from the artist

The Lavishly Green Spring of Jiangnan, Where the Fish Feel Free to Enjoy the Water
Pang Jiun’s Poetic Landscape
Pang Jiun was born into an artistic family in Shanghai and has shown extraordinary talent since childhood. Through his long-term exploration of both the external and his inner world, he has established a unique artistic style, the perfect balance between the classical and the modern, the East and the West. His paintings not only have the vivid lights and shadows characteristic of Impressionism, but also the intensity that the Chinese literati have always pursued. Inspired by the “white space” present in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy, Pang excels at using gray tones in paintings (to indicate “white space”) and has thus successfully captured the attention of countless art lovers. In this regard, Pang said, “My landscape paintings are liked because of this gray tone, because they have the same ethereal charm as Chinese poetry, and because they carry the introverted emotions of the Chinese people.”
Picturesque Tranquil Scenery for the Literati to Admire
Waterside Village (Lot685) shows the full array of Pang Jiun’s artistic features. In a slightly freehand manner, he portrays the white-and-black walled houses, willows, small bridge, stream, and fish of Jiangnan Water Town. He deliberately used quick brushstrokes to depict a small bridge shaded by willow trees and made it the visual center of the picture. The white clouds flowing in the sky are reflected in the water, stretched backwards, and almost connected to the sky. The water on the lower left is shaded by a nearby willow, and reddish orange fish are visible under its surface, reminiscent of petals blown by the wind, embodying the vitality of spring. Through the use of lights and shadows, movement, stillness, and “white space”, this work is a true poetic expression of spring, and it embodies in detail the endless beauty of the south of the Yangtze River, just waiting to be revered by the poets and literati.
Committing My Emotion to Stuffs, Things from Hometown are the Most Missing
Of course, Jiangnan’s scenery is not limited to a beautiful body of water. All kinds of plants and flowers are so beautiful and it seems like they’re competing with each other. And the painter could not get tired of this topic. Like the poem “Missing”of Wang Wei : “Red beans grow in the southern lands; when spring comes they grow a few branches; I hope you will gather a few more - these things are what one yearns for the most.” is one of this kind where he commits his emotion to the physical stuff and points out how reluctant he was when he bid farewell to his friend. Pang Jun finished his work Acacia Tree (Lot687) based on this poem, which is definitely a respectful nod to this poet from the Tang Dynasty. On the other hand, being born in Shanghai but living in Taiwan, he also addressed his nostalgia. On the gray plaid table on the lower part of the picture, a solid red beans twig is in a wide-mouthed bottle with flying birds pattern and extends outward in order. Calligraphy-like lines compose the willow vividly. With plaid decoration at the right, those lines respond to the red bean twig somehow and make it balanced.
Cloud of the Thousand Mountains; how many boats are there on the river?
If we metaphor Pang Jiun’s Jiangnan spring scene into a pretty little girl, then his depiction of the Lijian scenery is a luxurious lady, each has their special point; we can even say that Pang Jiun use light gray as his main tone to describe a cloudy and foggy Lijian scenery and it is well known for that. We can say he is at the same place with calligrapher Li Keren.
Like the work Guilin Landscape (Lot686), he put the magnificent yet delicate scenery of Lijian into one frame with the aerial view he’s used. In the picture, mountains from far away are drawn with light gray and have no outlines. But there are black and some brown dots used on the part where is backlight, it emphasizes how high the mountains are. White cloud around the mountain looks so smooth as if silk clothes wrapped around your waist, making it lively. If one takes a closer look, it’s high on one side and a bit lower on the other. Lines are used on the higher side to emphasize how steep those mountains are, and houses can be seen on the other side with greeneries on the lower part where he mixed green with light gray. All the details Pang Jiun put makes it overlapping and rich in life, it’s just like a perfect reflection of the poem “Reflection of the mountains shine on the lake, our boat slides through the peak of the mountain in the water” from Yuan Mei.

Price estimate:
HKD: 400,000 - 800,000
USD: 51,300 - 102,600

Auction Result:
HKD: 802,400