Ink on paper

137×65.5 cm. 54×25 3/4 in.

PROVENANCE
Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong
Private Collection, Asia

Ode to Mother Earth's Strength and Beauty
Ma Desheng's Revolutionary Masterpiece

The evolution of modern Chinese art is deeply intertwined with the collective "The Stars." Ma Desheng, born in Beijing in 1952, stands as one of the group's luminaries. In 1979, he spearheaded the Stars Art Exhibition in Beijing, a bold and avant-garde showcase that ignited the spark of Chinese contemporary art. In 2022, he was honoured with the prestigious Order of Arts and Letters Award of France. His works are collected by various esteemed institutions such as the British Museum in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art of Paris, and M+ in Hong Kong.

During the 1980s, Ma Desheng's art was dominated by black-and-white woodcut prints that mirrored the social realities. After relocating to Paris in 1986, he turned to ink-wash depictions of the female form—a daring departure from centuries of Chinese artistic tradition. French art critic Henry Périer once lauded him, declaring, "By introducing the female form into his paintings, Ma Desheng became one of the first artists to break away from five thousand years of Chinese painting tradition." Untitled, completed in 1988, epitomises this transformative period and has been lovingly preserved by an Asian collector for nearly four decades.

Confidence and Radiance: A Vision of New Life

In Untitled, Ma Desheng wields his brush with unrestrained freedom, crafting a female figure that is both plump and dynamic. The protagonist with big breasts, wide hips, small head, and robust body defies the conventional aesthetic proportions, radiating a raw, intrinsic beauty. In this work, the woman strides forward with unshakable confidence, with the stone-like legs evoking the resonant echo of her firm footsteps.

Using a wet-brush technique, the artist layers ink to create a texture reminiscent of marble, foreshadowing at his later iconic "stone figures." The bountiful female figure, powerful as bedrock, evokes the great Mother Earth herself—a conduit for the primal energies of life's proliferation. Within this work, the artist's fervent wish is distilled: to liberate and revitalize the creative vitality at the heart of Chinese art.

Price estimate:
HKD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 3,800 – 6,400