Oil on canvas

90 x 180 cm. 35 3/8 x 70 7/8 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom left

LITERATURE
2015, Pang Jiun: Expression of the Orient, Artist Publishing Co., Taipei, p.419
EXHIBITED
21 Jun – 1 Jul 2015, Pang Jiun: Expression of the Orient, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist

Create an Extraordinary Vision with Hyper-rhythmic and Colourful Brushstrokes
The Poetic Conception of Pang Jiun

In 1936, Pang Jiun was born to an artist family in Shanghai. The oil paintings of his parents, Pang Xunqin and Qiu Ti, had enduring influences on his early artistic practice. As Pang Jiun exhibited great talent at a young age, he became a close disciple of Xu Beihong who taught him exquisite techniques of classical realism. In the meanwhile, he also aspired to post-impressionist and fauvist expressivity from the West. Pang integrates both the oil and ink painting techniques to create an expressionism of the East. Three works presented on this occasion, On the Little Boat, I Live My Life (Lot 126) Spring Outside of Window (Lot 128) and In the Misty Mountain (Lot 127), are remarkable examples of the painter's extraordinarily poetic vision of the world in his later years.

Rivers in Jiangnan, Reposed on Boats

Pang Jiun was born in Shanghai and his families were from Changshu, Jiangsu Province. The ethereal water towns in Jiangnan not only nurture Pang's poetic inner world, but also exemplify his skillful integration of his approach of ink painting and oil painting skills. On a Little Boat, I Live My Life (2014) embodies the unique landscape of the water towns in Jiangnan through the extensive dimensions in the scene, and the use of a bright and rich palette. With multiple vanishing points underlain in the canvas, the turquoise water corresponds to the sky of the same hue, and there are people rowing boats in the serene life. The Hui-style architecture, built typically with white walls and black tiles on the roof, resembles the traces left by ink on paper. The eaves of horse-head walls, a traditional architectural form of Hui style, point straight to the blue sky, and the awning boats with dark canopies are aligned orderly. It renders perfectly the unique aesthetics of Chinese literati. The title is originated from the poem Lin Jiang Xian, which literally means the celestial being by the river, by the great poet Su Shi. With the line in the poem as the primary concept, “Here vanishes the boat, and I live my life along the rivers and sea,” the painting is imbued with Pang's open mind and life philosophy of generosity. When people walk to the bridges and enjoy the scenery, Pang chooses to wander around the world on the boat alternatively. In the tranquil, colorful reflections on the water towns lie his transcendental spiritual pursuits.

Garden Landscape from Outside the Window Reveals Spring with its Immense Charm

Nurtured in sophisticated family culture, Pang Jiun’s painting is profoundly endowed with Chinese literati ideas. Spring Outside of Window depicts a window scene, a rare theme in Pang’s practice. The composition may be inspired by Henri Matisse’s Landscape Viewed from a Window, compared to which Pang’s work is more focused on expressing the depth of field which conveys emotion. In the presence of a window, the gaze of the viewer is led from the inside to the outside, and the inner feelings are also being exteriorized continuously. The work adopts a Western-style one-point perspective. The simple wooden mullion seems connected to a small outdoor bridge with flowing water, both being symbols of refinement and elegance. Besides some melting snow, red koi are joyfully swimming in the lake. Two pavilions stand on both sides of the strait. With red peach blossoms and green willow leaves, the garden landscape conveys the beauty of fresh spring. The scenery outside the window is the reflection of the artist’s inner world. The ideal garden reveals his longing for the literati state of mind, as the “window” seems to open up to an end of the prolonged struggle of his life and lead to an enduring mood of enlightenment and joy.

Misty Mountain Peaks and Dreams of a Bejeweled Heavenly Palace

Pang Jiun once said: “Although a landscape is painted in a moment, the materials, thought process, experience and more than 40 years of creative passion are what underscore its maturity.” His current landscape oil paintings are grander re-workings of earlier works and In the Misty Mountain, a magnificent depiction of the wonders of Huang Shan, proves his point perfectly.

In this painting, the mountain peak in the distance, the strange-shaped pine tree in the mid range, and the weird rock and “cloud-sea” in the foreground are all elements from the artist's earlier work Sketches of Huang Shan and examples of typical Huang Shan landscapes. In his depictions of Huang Shan, Pang initially focused on mastering the slightest changes in the colors of mountain rocks, trees and flora, whereas the hues in this piece are simple and elegant, with unadorned and powerful forms.

Moreover, this shift in focus represents an elevation of Pang's creative mindset and ideas, over a period of more than two decades, to a higher more ethereal plane. Although the strange rock and pine tree in the painting are distinctive enough to be recognizable, the scene is not from the real world, but rather a generalization of Huang Shan features, with the pine tree, rock and clouds used as collective elements in a way that leads viewers to say at a glance: “Now that is Huang Shan.”

At the same time, the artist uses classic grey tones to showcase the way in which he details the light and atmosphere of the scene. At the center of the left hand side of the painting he contrasts the mountain rocks and pine tree with powerful but subtle changes in light that imbue the scene with greater weight and tension. The use of simple grays tones to portray the mist creates an atmosphere that is calmer and less hurried than that of the bright colors Pang invariably used in his works before the 1990s, emphasizing the indistinct steep peaks and precipitous cliffs hidden within the clouds. Combined with the closer leaf-covered branches and the dead standing tree this reduces the sense of distance, giving viewers a sense of “standing on a cliff edge as if falling into the clouds.” In this way, they embark on a magical journey into the natural world of Huang Shan informed by the aesthetic universe of Pang Jiun.

Price estimate:
HKD: 800,000 – 1,200,000
USD: 103,200 – 154,800

Auction Result:
HKD: 4,012,000