Ink and colour on paper

96 × 50.5 cm. 37 3/4 × 19 7/8 in.

Dated and signed in Chinese on bottom left

LITERATURE
2018, Shi Hu Collection, Chelesa Art, Hong Kong, p. 21-22
PROVENANCE
Chelesa Art, Hong Kong
Important Private Collection, Asia

Write the Ode to the Beauty, Paint the Soul of the Gorgeous
An Ode to Women, Shi Hu's Breakthrough of the Tradition of Calligraphy and Painting

In essence, Shi Hu has always been a Chinese calligrapher and painter; however, unlike many contemporary artists, he has been thinking about how to carry out the aesthetic innovation of contemporary calligraphy and painting, from materials to ideas. In the 1980s, Shi was fortunate to travel overseas and get in touch with the concepts and techniques of Western art, which prompted his art to obtain novel and diverse breakthroughs. He incorporated Picasso's cubism and primitivism, as well as the surreal fantasy realms of Dali and Miró in his creation; at the same time, he incorporated the core of Chinese thought-the most innocent and simple New Year paintings, peasant paintings, and many other folk arts as nutrients. Through fusion and reconstruction, he successfully created a unique artistic style.

Painting with Poetry, Gorgeous and Beautiful

An Ode to Women is a concrete example of Shi's practice of introducing western painting elements into Chinese painting principles. In his bold experiment, he never abandons the traditional method: paying attention to brushwork, virtual and reality, density, and many other basic principles of Chinese painting. The work is based on a poem of the same name by Du Fu. In the painting, two graceful and beautiful women wearing hats and veils stand slimly and gracefully. Except for the ink to outline the clear facial contours, highlighting the vivid and agile eyes of the beauties, the rest of the painting is mixed with bright and contrasting colors. The colors are intertwined and blended, creating effects similar to collage, rubbing, and silhouette, embellishing a few green twigs and flying birds...The artist thoroughly constructed a new visual imagination between movement and static, concrete and abstract, freehand and sketch, reality and dream. The imagination reminds viewers of Du's poem, “Each of the ladies has a fascinating face, Their skin is delicate, their manner full of grace. Embroidered with peacocks and unicorns in gold, Their dress in rich silks shines so bright when spring is old.”

Price estimate:
HKD: 70,000 - 150,000
USD: 9,000 - 19,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 132,000