Acrylic on canvas

61.5 × 86.5 cm. 24 1/4 × 34 in.

Titled, signed in English and dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Denmark
Private Collection, Asia

Art is Life!
A Colorful Chapter in the Artistic Life of Walasse Ting

“People use dynamic force to extend life, painting uses life to extend dynamic force.”
—— Walasse Ting

“Art is Life” could reasonably be described as the life credo of Walasse Ting. Once viewing an exhibition of the artist's paintings during a visit to the United States, Shiy De-Jinn was moved to say: “Ting's paintings strive for untrammeled freedom, but what is particularly praiseworthy is that his starting point is a reflection on true feelings.” Whether leaving Hong Kong at the age of 17 to pursue art, traveling to Paris at 23, living in New York in the 1960s or during his later years when he settled down in Amsterdam, Walasse Ting never stopped living a delightfully free-and-easy artistic life. Indeed, each journey was like a painting replete with different emotions and every creation a reflection of the artist's colorful life.

Ting is unique in the global art world in that throughout his life he held solo exhibitions at more than 60 art galleries and art museums and his works have been collected by over 40 globally renowned art museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Guggenheim in New York, Tate Musuem in London, Centre Pompidou in Paris and Hong Kong Museum of Art. These facts alone highlight the multinational appeal and influence of Walasse Ting.

A Cat-like Beauty: Blossoming Human Emotions

While living in New York in the 1970s Ting was influenced by Andy Warhol's iconic depiction of Marilyn Monroe, Tom Wesselman's Great American Nude, the ubiquitous pictures of women in advertising and the free thinking ideas of sexual culture. These influences, together with Ting's unrestrained personality, led to the gradual formation of his own inimical artistic style. Thereafter, the artist started to create large numbers of works based on his favorite subject matter - beautiful women.

Do You Like My Cat? (Lot 65) is an excellent example of the way in which Ting employs the “beautiful woman and cat” motif and one of only 16 oil paintings with that subject to appear on the secondary market. In this piece, the artist boldly combines dripping and splashing abstract expressionist methods with the visual impact of erotic Pop Art, while the romantic nature of blue and purple as the main focus of the painting give it a softness and charm. The gaze of the woman falls on the tabby cat in her hands and the two have the same eye color, as if Ting is offering an interpretation of their inner affection. By rapidly coloring the cat with yellow-brown crayons he creates a sense of languid wildness, which presents an honest portrayal of the unrestrained charm of this beauty while also revealing the artist's life truth: “Before painting I am a man, but after the painting is finished I become a woman.”

Parrot Whispers: Celebrating the Brilliance of Life

Walasse Ting enjoyed painting not only beautiful women but also flowers, birds, fish and insects, but parrots were one of his very favorite subjects. Indeed, when he lived in New York Ting kept a parrot as a companion which he used to talk to in his native Suzhou accent. Three Parrots (Lot 66) is a rare example of a large painting on this subject matter by Ting. There are fewer than 20 works with the same motif available on the market and this is perhaps the largest. In the painting, the parrots are the main focus, their beautifully colored wings contrasted against the spring-like green hue. Emperor Huizong of Song (1082-1135) once painted Five-colored Parakeet on a Blossoming Apricot Tree to record a rare sighting one spring day. As someone who similarly does not hide his feelings, Ting boldly uses the luminous hues of acrylic colors to depict the parrots, with the rose red, lemon yellow, blue-purple plumage, dispelling with the fetters of shade and lines, to leave behind only dancing iridescence and radiance that boldly reinvigorate life.

Life in Painting: A Riotous Colorful Stylee

In any discussion of the artist's personal life appearing in his paintings, Flower Vase, Portrait, Fruit and Fish (Lot 67) represents a confluence of classical images from the art of Walasse Ting, enabling viewers to interpret his artistic life from a day to day perspective. The work depicts a room that is a tranquil blue color, with a portrait of a beautiful blue-haired woman on the wall and flowers, birds and fish to the side. Although this corner of the table cheers the heart and pleases the feelings, it is also a rich source of inspiration. The fresh flowers are in full bloom knowingly take-up half the painting and are clearly divided into red and green. The artist uses multiple colors to make the three fish in the rippling water eye-catching. Ting blends life and art into an integral whole, so we can see the joy first hand, all while living in a world of variety and interest. It is this aspect of Walasse Ting's personality that most strikes a chord with viewers and therein is to be found the modern style of his art.

Price estimate:
HKD: 380,000 – 450,000
USD: 49,000 – 58,000

Auction Result:
HKD: 495,600