Oil on canvas

85.5 x 125 cm. 33 2/3 x 49 1/5 in.

Signed in Chinese and pinyin and dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong
Private Collection, Asia

Note: A label of Hong Kong Schoeni Art Gallery is affixed on the reverse

A Bit Like Religion, A Bit Like Lover
Sisters in the Painting of Li Guijun

In 2004, Li Guijun joined China Realistic Painting Group along with his mentor Yang Feiyun as the youngest member of the group. His early-established interest in painting landed him at the Department of Oil Painting at China's Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1984. The award he won in the following year at the Art Exhibition of Chinese Youth in Progress shot him to prominence and made him an influential young artist in the 85 New Wave Movement. As a committed portrait painter, he is adept at exploring the psychological dynamics of women by using strokes in a truly careful and realist fashion. He was invited to hold exhibitions at a variety of museums, including KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, the National Museum of China and the National Art Museum of China. He described painting to him as 'a bit like religion and a bit like lover'. Over his 20-year artistic career, this belief has nurtured his creation as he always sees good things in life with compassion. Completed in 2004, Two Sisters offering at this auction was born around the start of his membership of the Realist School.

Two young ladies are sitting at the desk facing each other. One of them has one leg up on the chair, looking at the viewer reservedly, and the other is lying on the table with a wine glass in hand. They look very relaxed and perhaps engaged in casual conversation after eating. The artist included a number of Chinese cultural elements, such as mahogany chairs, carved tea table, silk cushion and cattail leaf fan, adding to this classic figurative portrait some oriental flavor that not only brings visual pleasure but also helps the viewer feel the warm vibe and affection between the sisters.

Price estimate:
HKD: 150,000 – 250,000
USD: 19,100 – 31,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 531,000