Oil on canvas

40.2 x 50.2 cm. 15 7/8 x 19 3/4 in.

Titled, inscribed, signed in Chinese and English, dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Important Private Collection, Asia

Falling Snow, Falling in Love with Beijing
Beijing in Chen Ke's Self-portrait

As a representative artist of the “New Cartoon” Generation, Chen Ke's subjects are mainly lovely figures or animals that are embodied with full emotions rather than depictions of their physical appearance. Graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2005, she was represented by STAR GALLERY in Beijing. In 2012 and 2018 she held major solo exhibitions in Today Art Museum, Beijing and Yuz Museum, Shanghai, and her works are praised by artist Liu Ye. Snow presented in this auction was created at her age of 32, a sublime work on the city's view when she was advancing her art career in Beijing.

Visited All the Relics, Back to the Common Life

Moving from the south to Beijing upon graduation from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chen finally could admire the snowscape that's common in the local but rare in the south. In the painting a girl with short hair turns her back to the viewers, leaning against the fence and looking at the classical Chinese pavilion yearningly. The greyish-white background recalls the skating rink at Shichahai in winter, with the snowflakes flying in the sky covering the triangular roof of the pavilion. Since her solo exhibition With You – I'll Never Feel Lonely in 2012, she has developed a passion for artistic creation on old furniture. 2 years before the exhibition, she already showed an interest in old furniture and architecture in Snow. The old-fashioned pavilion is located in the center of the rink, presented in a fanciful and dreamlike way. Chen narrates a common view in secular life, which is desired but easy to neglect, through her refreshed and remarkable illustration.

The Winter at Shichahai, the Summer at Summer Palace

Chen's composition of the figure and landscape in the painting is noteworthy. It strikes a few similarities with Summer Palace, which hammered in 2019 Autumn Auctions at the price of HKD 900,000, a price 10 times of its low estimated value. While the Summer Palace is the favourite site people visit in Beijing during summer time, Shichahai turns into a popular place for its broad ice slab with relics in winter. Viewers could then understand the girl as Chen's self-portrait and the sense of nostalgia in the drifting snow in the turning wheel of seasons.

Price estimate:
HKD: 30,000 – 50,000
USD: 3,900 – 6,500

Auction Result:
HKD: 103,840