Oil on canvas

140×120 cm. 55 1/8×47 1/4 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom right; signed in Chinese and titled on the reverse

LITERATURE
2018, Li Qiang's Works, Long Museum, Chongqing, p. 92 - 93
EXHIBITED
22 Sep – 31 Oct 2018, Li Qiang's Works, Long Museum, Chongqing

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia
7 Oct 2019, China Guardian Hong Kong Autumn Auction, Lot 60
Acquired directly by present private Asian collector from the above

Not Vying With the Myriad Blooms in Splendour
It Leaves a Quiet Grace in the World to Wander
Magnolia by Li Qiang

Born in 1962, Li Qiang has established a unique presence in contemporary art. He studied alongside He Duoling and Zhang Xiaogang at the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. After graduating in 1985 with outstanding performance, he was invited to join as faculty and has been teaching there ever since. Li first gained recognition during the transformative "85 New Wave" movement, utilising oil paints to create poetic floral compositions inspired by Song Dynasty aesthetics. His work is characterised by a keen sense of colour and distinctive brushwork. In 2015 and 2018, Li's solo exhibitions at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo and the Long Museum in Chongqing garnered significant acclaim. His solo exhibition at the Long Museum in Shanghai last year was also highly praised. The piece presented here, Magnolia 2017 No. 5, comes from his renowned Magnolia series which was previously showcased in Chongqing.

Beneath the Moon, It Seems Without a Trace
Yet on the Bough, a Hidden Fragrance Graces

In the painting, a purple magnolia blooms extravagantly. The artist skillfully creates a diagonal composition with the branches, where petals, as clear and pristine as ice and snow, encircle the twigs. The right side is filled with clusters of flowers, contrasting with the finely outlined leaves and buds on the left. This juxtaposition subtly hints at the misty, rainy weather and rugged landscape of Chongqing city, evoking a hazy and mysterious beauty, and telling a tranquil and profound story.

Li Qiang's brushstrokes flow like poetry, blending reality and abstraction to outline the flowers and leaves. His use of elegant colours vividly captures the dynamic beauty of life. The pinkish-purple and pale yellow flowers seem to float harmoniously within the infinite space of the painting. The light brown branches are strong and vigorous, with each petal swaying in the wind, reflecting the artist's deep understanding of Eastern aesthetics and his reverence for life. The Magnolia series, while celebrating flowers, is fundamentally an ode to life and nature. Li captures the magnolia's resilient spirit in the blossoms and branches, using expressive oil paints to convey the profound artistic conception of "smoke recedes and clouds gather" in Eastern aesthetics, inviting viewers to grasp the essence of life through the magnolia's blooming and fading.

Price estimate:
HKD 160,000 - 250,000
USD 20,500 – 32,100

Auction Result:
HKD: 420,000