Bronze Sculpture Edition: 7/8

26 × 44 × 21 cm. 10 1/4 × 17 3/8 × 8 1/4 in.

Incised with artist’s signature in English, numbered, credited and dated on the underside

LITERATURE (different editions)
1995, P.M. Hsiung: Cutting of Space and Welding of Time, Fairmate Art Gallery, Taipei, p.16-17
1999, Contemporary Chinese Art Collection 6: Hsiung Ping-Ming, Mountain Art Museum, Kaohsiung, p. 40-41
2014, Breeze from Paris, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, p.93
EXHIBITED (different editions)
9 – 31 Dec 1995, P.M. Hsiung: Cutting of Space and Welding of Time, Fairmate Art Gallery, Taipei
31 May – 29 Jun 2014, Breeze from Paris, Eslite Gallery, Taipei
20 Sep – 1 Nov 2014, Hsiung Ping-Ming: A Retrospective, Main Trend Gallery, Taipei
15 Apr – 11 May 2022, The Returning Sculpture – Retrospective Exhibition of Hsiung Ping-Ming, The National Art Museum of China, Beijing

PROVENANCE
Fairmate Art Gallery, Taipei
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector from the above

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Taipei Fairmate Art Gallery signed by the artist
Note: this work was executed in 1965 and casted in bronze in 1997

Holding Faith and Dreams and Singing to the Sky
Hsiung Ping-Ming’s High-Spirited Standing Buffalo

"Bulls and I have both experienced times of great adversity, but through our ordeals, we have found hope for survival."
——Hsiung Ping-Ming

A master of Chinese and Western art, literature and philosophy, Hsiung Ping-Ming was born in Nanjing in 1922 to the celebrated mathematician Hsiung Ching-Lai. Fleeing from the war, his family moved to Kunming in 1937, where he enrolled in the Philosophy Department at the National Southwest Associated University. In 1947, Hsiung Ping-Ming received state funds and went on to study philosophy at the University of Paris. Upon meeting the French sculptor Marcel Gimond, he decided to pursue his passion for sculpture at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His works from 1952 onward were frequently selected to show in the French Salon, Salon de Mai and other major exhibitions in France. In 1983, he was awarded the Order of Academic Palms by the French Ministry of Education, representing his contributions to the shine of Eastern sculpture in the international art scene. His works are in the collections of the Musée Cernuschi in Paris, the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seoul, the National Art Museum of China, Peking University, Nanjing University and other institutions.

The buffalo series that began in the 1960s is representative of Hsiung Ping-Ming’s work. Created in 1965, Standing Buffalo, presented in the spring auction, is an iconic work from the series. That year, Hsiung Ping-Ming had just completed his 1964 solo exhibition at the Galerie Verena-Müller in Switzerland and was teaching at the prestigious University of Zurich in Switzerland while participating in a group exhibition at the Palais de Chaillot, which attracted much acclaim and marked the golden age of his creativity and reputation. Standing Buffalo is a milestone that witnessed the development of his artistic career in the Western art world, championing the richness and profundity of Chinese cultural heritage.

A Resilient Soul of Proud Humility, Standing Upright between Heaven and Earth

Although he had been wandering overseas for many years pursuing his studies, as a literatus with a strong sense of responsibility, his heart was tied to his motherland, and he longed for his compatriots who were fighting their way through the mud. The buffalo, which is closely connected to the land and soil of his country, became the object of his sentimental attachment. In Standing Buffalo, the animal’s thin and bony legs stand firmly on the earth, its rugged back covered with traces of the artist’s hands, reflecting its resilient spirit, having endured all the hardships in life. Stripped of the warmth of flesh and striking deep into the soul, the sculpture presents a similar quality to the works by the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti. The buffalo seems to aim the sharp horns on its head at heaven, chanting, implying an unshakable will to survive. Through modern sculptural techniques, Hsiung Ping-Ming communicates Eastern aesthetics of a balance of form and spirit, as well as the expression of emotions and meaning, which was highly encouraging in his time.

Chinese artists like Hsiung Ping-Ming, who travelled to the West in the last century and stood at the top of the global art scene, showcased their unique philosophies and vigour, creating a promising world for promoting and advancing Eastern aesthetics. Like the Standing Buffalo, a body of skins and bones, the artist holds his head high with proud humility, treading out a road of hope in the muddy fields of life.

Price estimate:
HKD: 500,000 – 700,000
USD: 63,900 - 89,400

Auction Result:
HKD: 600,000