Tempera and oil on linen

76 x 203.5 cm. 29 7/8 × 80 1/8 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom right
PROVENANCE
Moon Gallery, Taichung
7 Jun 2015, Ravenel Taipei Spring Auction, Lot 231
Acquired directly by present Asian collector from the above sale

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Moon Gallery , Taichung and signed by the artist

Return and Come Back, the Superior State of Misty Green Mountains
Yeh Tzu-Chi's Masterpiece of Mist, Bruwan, Hualien

Yeh Tzu-Chi was born in Hualien, Taiwan in 1957. The natural scenery of mountains in Hualian becomes his life-time inspiration. After graduating from the Fine Arts Department of Cultural University in Taiwan, he joined Modern Painting Society of Republic of China. In 1987, he held his first solo exhibition at the American Cultural Center in Taipei, a wild success. In the same year, he went to study at the Art Institute of Brooklyn College of Art in New York and lived abroad for 19 years. During his time spent overseas, he began to create still life landscape paintings. Through his observation of life cycles in nature, Ye has expressed abundant and complex emotion in his artwork. He has used unique techniques from the Venetian school, adding egg tempera to his oil paintings, which makes the painting appear moist and exuberent, bringing out the brilliance of nature and the aura of classicism. In 2006, he returned to his hometown Hualien and settled there. Since then, he has created a series of enchanting artworks based on local scenery. Created from 2009 to 2010, Mist, Bruwan Hualien is Yeh's masterpiece depicting his hometown.

Bruwan is located in the Taroko National Park in Hualien, where Yeh Tzu-Chi often goes for hikes. “Bru” means “echo” in Taroko. On the canvas, dense trees are towering into the clouds, emerald green and hemp yellow concealed in the mist, forming a scaffold from bottom to top, wide to narrow. The artist does not draw your attention to the steep and rugged mountains; instead, he emphasizes the rich and ever-changing colors of branches and leaves in his composition from the head-up perspective. The peaks and folds of mountains in the forest are like a green ocean wave; some trees stand upright, while others sway gently with the wind, breathing and growing in different postures, composing a harmonious symphonic poem.

Mist, Bruwan, Hualien is admired for its subtle and delicate details in a closer look, and a grand silhouette from a distant view. The faint clouds and mist above the mountain top and the lush forest half-covered in green steep in the spirit of the artist. Yeh Tzu-Chi's painting is deeply contemporary in composition, but he uses classical and realistic techniques, adding egg tempera to his oil paintings to make it moist and luster, thereby creating the mist and water vapor of the clouds in the mountains, just like the style of ancient Chinese literati landscape paintings. Through the scattered perspective, Yeh Tzu-Chi makes people's eyes follow the winding mountains, as if they were walking in the mountains. The focus of the painting changes from time to time and the horizontal axis of the picture encloses the rivers. The artist uses western medium to express the unique vocabulary of Chinese landscape painting: astringency, lushness, and moistness can be realized via the ups and downs of the mountains. This piece is serene and vast, pure and spotless, which demonstrates Ye's master state after returning to his hometown. It also reveals his creative breakthrough, cleverly crossing the Chinese and Western boundaries by developing contemporary landscape paintings with unique charm.

Facing the scenery of his hometown, Yeh Tzu-Chi lays out not only a simple realistic portrayal, but also a spiritual pursuit filled with emotion and metaphor, revealing a sense of tranquility after going through the ups and downs in life and a touch of nostalgia. The seemingly still ocean of trees whisper a philosophy of their own life course, which demonstrates a deep dialogue between the artist, his younger self and nature. It implies the birth and death of life in the universe and narrates the artist's contemplation on eternity.

Price estimate:
HKD: 1,000,000 – 2,000,000
USD: 128,900 – 257,900

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,180,000