Oil on fiberboard

45.5 × 30 cm. 17 7/8 × 11 3/4 in.

Signed in English and dated on bottom right

LITERATURE
2003, The Beauty of Imagery: Ting Yinyung’s Painting Art, History Museum, Taipei, p. 90
2005, Chinese Imagery Paintings (1), China Academy of Art Press, Hangzhou, p. 36
2020, Ting Yinyung Catalogue Raisonné: Oil Paintings, Rita Wong, The Li-Ching Cultrual and Educational Foundation, Taipei, p. 345
EXHIBITED
5 Aug – 21 Sep 2003, The Beauty of Imagery: Ting Yinyung’s Painting Art, History Museum, Taipei

PROVENANCE
11 Apr 1999, Sotheby’s Taipei Spring Auction, Lot 30
Yageo Foundation, Taipei
31 Oct 2004, Christie’s Hong Kong Autumn Auction, Lot 764
Acquired directly by present important private Asian collector from the above

The Spirit of Life Remains Everlasting at Heart
Flowers in a Jar, a Still Life Masterpiece of Ting Yinyung

Across Chinese Contemporary artist Ting Yinyung’s prolific oeuvre, works of floral motif are the iconic and rare to come by. With less than 350 oil paintings in total, a mere 200 existing, only 22 paintings contain the theme of flowers. Given such scarce and diverse works, 5 are under The Chinese University of Hong Kong Collection. In this upcoming auction, Flowers in a Jar is a speculator work of attention.

Between East and West, When Brushwork Meets Flowers

Although Ting’s collection of works prior to the 1950’s were all lost, based on scarce newspaper editorial and written accounts, his practice of still-life motifs were prominent in the early days of his collection. When Ting studied in Japan in 1924, he took upon the duration and opportunity to observe the items around him. On the Dining Table is an early and iconic work that was completed at a young age of 22, which was exhibited at the Fifth central Art Exhibition of Japan. As the only finalist from China at this Japanese exhibition, the exceptional result was outstanding and unprecedented. Ting’s works was not only a testament to his craftsmanship, but also a strong encouragement to the Nation. Upon his return to China in 1926, he continues his craft and published works and sketches in Zhonghua Daily and Wing-on Monthly. In particular, his publication of By the Window and Nude and Flower were exquisite works that follow an avante garde approach of showing defined lines in Eastern paintings, with shadows by the legendary Henri Matisse. As Ting later resided in Hong Kong, his use of oil on canvas is a reflection of his mastery of ink, and the visual empowerment of abstraction. Completed in 1971, Flowers in a Jar is a representation of his pinnacle 70’s, and presents a hybridity of Fauvism and Eastern ink.

Colours Splashes through Free Brushwork

The brushwork in Flowers in a Jar narrates a story and atmosphere of movement and vivid. In a smooth motion, he elongates the flower stem into the clear vase, and beautifully connects a stem of anemone and a stem of scarlet sage. On the leaves, Ting incorporates the effect of ink blurring, with slightly curved and continuous short and medium strokes, to shape the stretching posture of the flowers and leaves. Through the light and heavy strokes of the brush, the rich variations of light and dark, depth and shade are embedded in the bright green colour, thus presenting the atmosphere of Oriental brushwork in the traditional Western subject of “still life painting”.

Ting cleverly used the representation of colours and structure to convey the language and message of floral symbolism and idioms. The string of red stemmed flower, along with the silver lotus in circular brushwork speaks to meaning of “good fortune” and “expectation”, demonstrating Ting Yinyung’s mastery of contrasting colours and shape. Ting boldly uses multiple saturated colours with high contrast to create a rich natural vibrancy, freely combining the contrasting colours of red, green, white, black and yellow to form a harmonious melody. In addition, the placement of white and black dots not only presents as decorative means, but when placed on the stamens and flower tips, the black dots became lively like musical notes. Meanwhile, white dots naturally provide sense of space. Through rhythm of the brush and the collision of colours, Ting extends vitality beyond the actual flowers themselves.

Rhythmic Vitality Fills the Room

In the background, Ting uses sharp vertical strokes to create a world of pure colours of bright yellow and pink-orange, abandoning the decorative additions of the fauvists and instead displaying the “mood” of Eastern aesthetics. In addition, a crystal clear glass vase is created with unique light gray-blue colour, which makes the background and branches of the vase reflect the colors of the background and branches with the light, forming a depth of field perspective, and makes the painting as a whole presents the flow of “qi”, or air of movement, which is extremely rare in oil painting.

A Portrait of a Man’s Full Life

As Ting Yinyung once said, “A good creation is an expression of one’s personality”. Like the Anemone, which represents “expectation”, and the scarlet sage, represents “good fortune”, Flower in a Jar not only express Ting’s passion and spiritual happiness for art, but indeed conveys his open-mindedness, in hopes for a better, abundant life in his strong and confident brushwork. As the title of the work suggests, Flower in a Jar is an epitome of style, realm. As a painting, its visual and emotional impact can be compared to fragrance, lasting for generations to come.

Price estimate:
HKD: 1,200,000 – 1,800,000
USD: 152,900 – 229,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,680,000