Oil on canvas

45.5 × 38 cm. 17 7/8 x 15 in.

Signed in pinyin on bottom right; Inscribed, titled, signed in Chinese, dated and located on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly by Ms. Matsumoto Toshie from the artist
Private Collection, Asia

A Probe into the Traditional Symbols
A Rare Peking Opera Themed Oil Painting from Cai Guo-Qiang’s Early Works
Cai Guo-Qiang went to Japan in 1986 to carry on his art practice. The following year, he completed the work, Guan Yu, Guan Ping and Zhou Cang. At that time, Chinese landscape painting, the Great Wall and Peking Opera were of great interest to Japanese society. Taking this opportunity, Cai continually explored the artistic forms involved with traditional symbols and created a series of oil paintings of Peking Opera, which was rarely seen at that time. The work, Guan Yu, Guan Ping and Zhou Cang, is based on Peking Opera, incorporating three characters, the Shu General Guan Yu, his adopted son Guan Ping and the loyal servant Zhou Cang, from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, into Peking Opera. Cai portrays Guan Yu as a Sheng role with a red face, Guan Ping as a Wusheng role, and Zhou Cang as a Jing role, displaying the different appearances and personalities of three characters.
In the image, Cai outlines three characters with white strokes, then supplements the figures with facial features, clothing, and attached weapons. By only applying four colors - red, yellow, blue and black, the common traits of loyalty and bravery between three characters are presented. The picture is laid out in a harmonious asymmetry with Guan Yu placed in the center and the two attendants on both sides. The triangular composition brings tension and dramaticality of Peking Opera into the painting, strongly demonstrating the expressiveness of the art form of Peking Opera.
In the 1980s, Cai Guo-Qiang experimented with the symbols of Chinese culture —gunpowder, Peking Opera, and the Great Wall in different artistic approaches. The profound reflection on his own national culture, as well as the series of Peking Opera-themed works, has become the starting point of his artistic career. His world-famous explosion art nowadays still carries on the Chinese landscape and Peking Opera characters from his paintings in the 1980s.

Price estimate:
HKD: 70,000 - 100,000
USD: 9,000 - 12,800

Auction Result:
HKD: 354,000