Acrylic on canvas

49 × 49 cm. 19 1/4 × 19 1/4 in.

Signed in English and Chinese, titled in Italian and dated on the reverse
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Hsiao Chin International Foundation of Fine Arts and signed by the artist

From Fiery Star to Exquisite Quantum: Infinite Dynamic Beyond Time and Space
Hsiao Chin Transverses the Universe with His Minds

Having founded the first Chinese abstract painting group, Ton Fan Group, Hsiao Chin is the only Asian artist who used Asian philosophy to launch the Punto International Art Movement in 1961 in the West. Born in 1935 in Shanghai, Hsiao moved to Taiwan with his uncle-in-law in 1949 and studied painting under Lee Chun-shen, specifically researching artists including Joan Miró and Paul Klee. In 1956, he was sponsored by the Spanish government to study in Europe, and he travelled in Europe for over sixty years to further explore abstract art. Combining the Taoist philosophy, deeply rooted in his ethnic traditions, into his creation, Hsiao has developed a unique artistic language of abstract art distinguishable from the western style. Nowadays his works are collected by many significant institutions, including the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, MoMA, and M+. For this spring auction, we will bring Hsiao Chin’s Sole Viola (Lot 91) painted in the 1960s and I’ll Niobium Campo Magnetico Spirituale (Lot 92) in 1990s to display his travel of art from the ancient to modern, his exploration of the energy of the universe.

“Zen Painting”: the Bright and Tensile Violet Sun

Hsiao Chin began to widely adopt the Taoist philosophy in the 1960s, the same period when he developed a strong interest in the universe. Taking the sun symbolizing energy as the motif, Hsiao created the first systematic Sun series, and launched the Surya International Art Movement. The painting Sole Viola finished in 1966 is a representative work of this series.

Rather than the typical warm colours, Hsiao selected “purple” from the prismatic colours to paint geometry rigorously representing the solar core, surrounded by the extending pink photosphere and green chromosphere. In addition, Hsiao overlaid the same-coloured pigments onto the purple core to create shades of graded textures reminiscent of the sunspot activity. While the white dots sprinkled on the centre, seeming like the solar flares, glow with energy, the triangular geometry of yellow and white around the sun forms a visual collision of sharp and curve with the central circle, delivering a metaphor for the radiant sunshine. Like a Zen painting, this work appears dignified and powerful, allowing the viewers’ spirits to separate from their physical bodies and freely swim in the fiery energy of the universe.

Boundless Spiritual Magnetic Field, Wander in the Quantum Universe

In the 1990s, Hsiao Chin, was already famous all over Europe. After the unexpected death of his beloved daughter in 1990, he reconsidered the relationship between humans and the universe in the midst of deep grief, and began the Beyond the Great Threshold Series. Among that, I’ll Niobium Campo Magnetico Spirituale, created in 1998, differs from its counterparts that mostly depict the macrocosmic grandeur, yet focusing on the microcosmic elements and presenting a novel interpretation of the cosmological fantasies consistent with his art in 1960s.

Niobium is an element existing in the Earth’s crust. Because of its excellent superconductivity and magnetic penetration, niobium is often used to produce instruments like space telescopes and quantum accelerators to explore the macroscopic and microscopic quantum fields. From this element, Hsiao developed the law of resonant connection between objects and even planets in an unconscious realm, as well as the Taoist philosophies of energy circulation and endless transformation. In the centre of the painting, the iconic tight brushstrokes in the Beyond the Great Threshold Series spread out evenly and outline an irregular series of curved circles. It seems the light-coloured circuit of the magnetic field, but it also resembles the natural texture of the pyrochlore, one mineral rich in niobium. Hsiao used pure orange-red pigment and a plane modelling with no sense of volume, showing the spiritual vision of the structural beauty of the natural power. Simultaneously, the colourful particles around the magnetic field splash open. Some are captured slowly into the edge of the field, while some are escaping and leaping, dragging out the ink-like filamentous trails just like the passionate dancing notes. The image is full of “dynamic” and the “rhythm of vitality”, making the work so unforgettable!

Price estimate:
HKD: 45,000 – 65,000
USD: 5,700 – 8,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 66,000