Oil on canvas

150 x120 cm. 59 × 47 1/4 in.

Signed in Chinese and pinyin and dated on bottom right

LITERATURE
2007, Zhou Chunya: Paintings and Sculptures, Chinatoday Gallery, Brussels, p.39
EXHIBITED
2007, Zhou Chunya: Paintings and Sculptures, Chinatoday Gallery, Brussels

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly by present important European collector from the artist

Sound Colours of Life, Visual Symbols of the Era
Zhou Chunya's Classic Green Dog Series Work Debut at Auction

When Zhou Chunya returned to China from Germany in 1994, a friend gave him a black German shepherd dog, which he named “Heigen” (German for “friend”) to commemorate his days studying art in Kassel. Since then, Zhou Chunya's life and creations have been inseparably linked with dogs. Soon, Heigen became Zhou's favourite subject. A turning point in his paintings came in 1997 when he depicted Heigen completely in green for the first time. From then on, dogs represent eternal and sincere emotional memories in his paintings, providing people with another spiritual perspective on this species, and taking his works in the evolution of Chinese contemporary art.

The First Appearance of the Green Dog Series

In both East and West, green is a very distinctive colour, symbolizing peace and nature, but also subtle luck: Chinese mahjong tables and Western billiard tables are all based on green. In such a context, “Green Dogs” manifests a richness that is both full of vitality and surreal. When Heigen died in 1999, he stopped painting and went on a trip because he was so saddened that he was unable to paint. A year and a half later, he picked up his brushes and continued with his series of “Green Dogs,” but by this time, his depictions were no longer of his old friend, Heigen, any dog he encountered in his life could become the protagonist. The “Green Dog” has become a kind of symbol. The Green Dog Series - Little Green Dog, which makes its debut at auction this time, is a breakthrough work 10 years after the birth of the series. The work was exhibited at the ChinaToday Gallery, in Brussels, Belgium, when it was first introduced, and has been in the collection of important European collectors for many years. Now making its debut at auction, which is a rare opportunity..

Pugs: A Promising Future.

In this work, untypically, the main character is a gentle and innocent Pug, instead of a courageous German Shepherd, which was often seen in previous paintings. It looks towards the viewer with his mouth open to reveal a vivid pink tongue. The artist deliberately does not place the main character in the centre of the painting, but slightly to the lower right, creating a lot of white space. On the one hand, it emphasizes the pug's expression; on the other hand, it hints at the puppy is at an early stage of life, waiting for a bright future, which also reveals the artist's hope..

East Meets West: The Symbiosis of Chinese Literati and Western Sculptural.

It is worth noting that, by allowing the oil colours to flow freely, it is easy to see that Zhou Chunya's creations are influenced by a certain degree of Western Expressionism, as well as the calligraphic brushstrokes that come from his cultural background. The hair of the main character in the painting is composed of brown, warm yellow, and acidic green colours, with the same calligraphic strokes as in Chinese humanistic painting, and the texture of dryness and wetness is similar to that of Bada Shanren's landscapes, flowers, and birds. The sculptural volume of the work is created by the stacking of colours and brushstrokes of varying depths and thicknesses. The work appears to be thick without losing its agility, and the brushstrokes are flowing freely, which makes this work a high degree of combination of the artist's emotion and skill..

For Zhou himself, the dog has become a symbol of life itself. In Green Dog Series - Little Green Dog, the puppy represents the artist himself with a heart of gold, that he looks back and communicate with himself at the age of fulfilment. Each stroke is a gentle but determined motto, accompanying him through the four seasons of life.

Price estimate:
HKD 900,000 – 1,500,000
USD 115,400 – 192,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 1,680,000