Ink and colour on paper

68.5 x 28 cm. 27 x 11 in.

Signed,dated and inscribed in Chinese with artist's seal on upper right

Ting Yin-Yung
The Boarderless Art：When the East meets West
Ting Yin-yung,Lin Fengmian and Guan Liang,known to be “Three Heroes of Guangdong”,all grew up from Guangdong province and became very good friends. They lived and worked in Shanghai during the same time. During WWII,they followed the Nationalist Government’s and migrated to Chongqing and held joint exhibitions together. Ting’s artistic career is divided into two periods—moving to Hong Kong in 1949 marked a turning point in his artistic career. He devoted the earlier stages of his life on Western paintings,and then gradually shifted his focus to Chinese ink paintings. This transition is not only seen as a “return” to his original Chinese roots,but is also seen as a “transcendence” in terms of his technical skills. Ting went through 5 years of rigorous training at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts（today,the Tokyo University of the Arts）studying Western-style art. Consequently,he adopted Henri Matisse’s Fauvism as the starting point of his artistic journey.
In 1925,Ting returned to China to advocate for the modernisation of Chinese Art. Since he helped set up the Guangdong Municipal Museum,where he was deeply immersed with the world of Chinese calligraphy and epigraphy,he began to collect works by Bada Shanren,Shitao and Jin Nong. On the other hand,Ting taught himself Chinese paintings and was inspired to incorporate Western influence into Chinese freehand brush works. Since the 1920 - 70s,Ting’s style evolved systematically in terms of modernity,ethnicity and personality. From School of Plein-airism,Fauvism,to the discovery of Chinese primitive culture and archaic seals,Ting successfully assimilated Chinese and Western painting styles to develop his own version of the “East meets West”. This sale offers two works representing his different stages in life,Hong Hu IV and Opera Figure：General.
In 1949,due to the political situation in China,Ting left Guangzhou and spent the remaining 30 years of his life in Hong Kong. He adopted a new name “Ting Hong”,which means a wild goose fleeing to the south,indulging in solitude in order to reach the height of his artistic development. In the 1950s,Ting combined his interests in ancient relics and Fauvism along with the elements of archaic scripts to create his own aesthetic language.
The subject matters of this piece are two “pictorial characters” representing “Hong” and “Tiger”,which are Ting’s given name and his Chinese zodiac sign. He used scarlet ink to outline the forms of a goose and a tiger,inspired by the design of ancient jades. The geometric figures were derived from the observation and appreciation of our ancestors towards the mother nature. As a result,Ting adopted the abstract forms and played with the composition. Skillfully managing the lines and the spacing of the brush strokes with both elements echoing at each other,Ting delineated the shapes of the goose and the tiger with one stroke. This approach is associated with the techniques used in Chinese calligraphy and seal craving,reflecting Ting’s vigor and mastery in calligraphy. The scarlet ink reminds viewers of a cinnabar inkpad,while the ivory background resembles the scripts on an oracle bone. This creation is a represention of Ting himself and inspired him to compose “Two Part Taichi Diagram” in the 1970s. Not only does this feature carry the best annotation of Ting,but it also reveals his true spirits.
Ting successfully extracted the condescension tone in Bada Sharen’s works and transformed into humourous elements in life. He enjoyed watching Chinese opera and was always inspired by the Opera literatures. During his childhood,he captured the scenes with a paintbrush and a piece of paper immediately after watching a show. He considered the innocence of a child best elicits the authenticity and beauty of an artwork. Most of his favourite subject matters were characters from Buddhism and Taoism such as Buddha,the Eight Immortals,Arhat and Zhong Kui. In Opera Figure：General,the figure is armed with two hammers,with exaggerated broad shoulders and a large heavy body to highlight the contrast of proportion. He gave up the details of the subjects by accentuating the most dramatic elements of the characters to enrich the story appeal of the work. Though Bada Shanren employed a variation of flowing lines to depict human figures,Ting,on the other hand,dissolved the boundaries between the East and the West. By inheriting the essence of Bada Sharen,Ting further developed his own form of vibrant colours and use of lines to establish significant masterpieces in the 20th Century Chinese Art.
Ting’s exploration of the simplicity and purity of primitive culture best illustrated the complex human behaviours. Hence,it became the ideals of his artistic pursuits. He concluded the Bada Sharen’s brushworks and his aesthetics values have established the Modern art ideology three hundred years ago,more perspicacious compared to Western Modernism. Upholding the spirits of Bada Sharen,Ting incorporated the elements of Western Modern arts into his Chinese ink paintings. Thus,it has earned him a reputation of “Matisse of the East” and “Bada Shanren of Modern Times”.

Price estimate:
HKD：30,000 - 50,000
USD：3,900 - 6,500

Auction Result:
HKD:82,600