Ink and colour on paper

67 x 67.5 cm. 26 3/8 x 26 5/8 in.

Signed in Chinese and stamped with artist's seal on lower left
Literature：China Academy of Art Publiser,Hangzhou,China,The Approach of Lin Fengmian ：the Centenary of Lin Fengmian,1999,p. 128.
Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing,Shanghai,China,Lin Fengmian：Works of Representatives of Shanghai Artists in the Century,2013,p. 51.
Provenance：20th Century Chinese Art,Christie’s Hong Kong,27 November 2005,Lot 173；Important Private Collection,Asia.
Note：This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Tina Keng Gallery,Taiwan.

Lin Fengmian
Grand Master of the Century,Pioneering Chinese Art History’s Modernist Approach
Lin Fengmian is considered a pioneer of Modern Chinese painting in the 20th century. However,he did not receive much attention and academic recognition from art history scholars until the late 1980s. Thus,it took the rest of the world six decades to finally be able to appreciate Lin’s unconventional and vanguard concept. His arduous artistic path began when he moved to France to study in 1920. In the next five years,Lin was greatly influenced by Ovide Yencesse,the principal of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Art de Dijon,and Cai Yuanpei,the revered figure from the Republic of China. The former withdrew him from Academism to focus on Western Modernism,to embrace his Chinese heritage and explore traditional Chinese aesthetics. While the latter discovered Lin’s talent by providing him encouragement during the beginning of his artistic career. Hence,Lin completely gave up traditional academics in order to establish his Modernist style of blending Chinese and Western techniques. Under Cai’s invitation,Lin became an educator,with the ideals of “using art to rescue our nation” to revolutionise art education in China.
Returning to Motherland,Advocating Revolutionary Art Education
In 1925,Lin returned to China to teach,and the next ten years was marked as his artistic prime time. In 1926,he became the principal of the National Beijing Fine Arts School in his early 20s and co-founded the reputable Hangzhou National Art Academy. With a burning sense of mission,he launched numerous art movements,published art magazines and created a series of artworks to promote the integration of Eastern and Western art. He rallied a group of supporters,including Lin Wenzheng,Wu Dayu,Pan Tianshou,Pan Yuliang,Liu Kaiqu and Li Kuchan,all influential figures in Art History. He had also inspired many prominent artists from the Chinese art world,such as Zao Wou-ki,Chu Teh-Chun,Wu Guanzhong,Zhao Chunxiang and Xi Dejin.
Fading out the Education System,Painstaking Devotion to Creative Practices
With the outbreak of Sino-Japanese War in 1937,Lin fled to the southern-west region of China with his schoolteachers and students. In 1938,Hangzhou National College of Art and the Beiping State Vocational Art School merged together. The school system went through a reformation；Lin,under tremendous pressure,resigned his position as principal. The end of his education career marked the beginning of his artistic pursuit. He engaged in innovative experiments by drawing upon Western art movements such as Modernism,Fauvism and Cubism,and infused the essence into traditional Chinese ink painting with folk culture elements. His “formation in square” and his transformation of Chinese ink wash became two major components of the period. The rhythm of changeable light and intense sentiment became known as “Lin Fengmian Style.” His sojourn ended in Chongqing when he returned to Hangzhou to teach in 1946 at the end of the Sino-Japanese War.
Fusing with Confidence,Establishment of Career Milestone
Later in the 1950s,due to the conflicting views between Lin and the college,he was forced to resign. Left unemployed,he moved to Shanghai to live a peaceful life. Once again,he devoted his time and freedom to indulge in art,this time,with a positive state of mind. Lin was highly respected amongst the Shanghai art community,Shanghai Art Association held many events to praise his artistic achievements. He was invited to many places to travel,including Jingdezhen to make porcelain paintings. Chinese and Shaoxing operas,fishing villages as well as folk culture arts all became sources of inspiration for Lin. The affirmation from the Shanghai community enabled him to rebuild his confidence,and the different mode of living brought gradual change in his art. Thus,he was able to fully concentrate on integrating Chinese and Western traits in his arts.
Lin’s works that exist nowadays were created in the 1950-60s,he donated most of them to the Shanghai Art Association,Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy or to the government collection,especially the works created before the Cultural Revolution best represent Lin’s lifelong venture. These works came to maturity,especially those with Chinese opera theme,exude a Modernist spirit. Lin utilised Cubism technique,along with the inspiration of opera facemasks and Picasso’s African masks. He cleverly employed geometric structures and spatial design to represent the multi-dimensionality of the world,as well as the surpassing of time and space；breaking away the restriction of time and the conventional design of space in a two-dimensional work. As a result,the works from 1950-60s marked a watershed in his career. From an Art History perspective,the artworks from this period are the most groundbreaking of all.
Classical Chinese Opera,Novel Concept
Drawn in 1950s,Yuchang Sword is one of Lin’s finest works amongst his Chinese opera series depicting opera figures. He completed this painting at his Nanchang Road apartment in Shanghai. A perfect visual representation,Lin artfully combined the “formation in square” and reinvention of traditional Chinese ink painting method,was shown flawlessly in this piece. The titular sword is said to be a specially designed treasure from sword master to King Goujian of Yue State. Though small in size,its sharp edges could penetrate armor,just like a dagger. According to Records of the Grand Historian：Biographies of Assassins,in the end of the Spring and autumn Period of Chinese history,renowned assassin Zhuan Zhu was sent by Prince Guang（son of the late King Zhu Fan of the Wu State）,to kill his cousin,King Liao of the Wu State,so Prince Guang can instate himself as the king. With a sword hidden inside a roasted fish,Zhuan Zhu successfully murdered King Liao. Thus,the name Yuchang is derived from the plot,it literally means “fish intestine”,identified as a sword of bravery. This art piece is inspired by Chinese opera,presenting a thrilling scene where assassin Zhuan Zhu presented the roasted fish on a serving tray to King Liao just before he pulled out the sharp sword. Lin hereby employs big patches of diamond shapes and straight diagonal lines across the picture plane to intersect the background of the painting,displaying his speedy movements and intensifies the anxious atmosphere. Zhuan Zhu,imposingly stands in the foreground with his broaching long beard and purple three-tile face.（Aside from his black eyebrows and black eyes,there are three blocks of colours on his forehead and both sides of his cheeks. In the ancient time,the purple colour is a mix of red and black colours. This facemask symbolizes loyalty and calmness）. Wearing a black top and standing in a horse stance,with a thrust he stabs the fish dagger into King Liao. Lin depicts Zhuan Zhu with a heavy figure to accentuate his strength and stoutness. Lin depicts the assassin in a triangular shape；with a ponytail tighten above his head as the tip of the triangle,stretching all the way down to his long straight hair draping down by his right shoulder. Lin brings the viewer’s attention down to the tip of Zhuan Zhu’s right foot,extending past his left foot all the way to the left corner of King Liao’s robe. The edge of the triangle stretches back up past the upraised left arm of the assassin,focusing on the tray,with the tiny grey fish as the limelight of the painting. Meanwhile,King Liao has a yellow three-tiled face（in Chinese opera,the colour yellow implies his aggressive and calculative personality）. He stands in a defensive pose with his hand in front of his chest,staring at the fish sword piercing through his yellow robe. The lavish headpiece with pheasant feathers symbolizes his majestic identity. Lin uses a rectangular round shape to depict the figure of the short-lived King Liao,drawing attention to his stern facial expression and hand gesture.
Blending of the East and the West,Surpassing Space and Time,The Harmonious Modern Compositional Structure
Inspired by Modernism and Cubism,Lin depicts his opera characters as figures being divided and reconstructed in different fragments of time and space. His use of multiple viewpoints,a concept derived from traditional Chinese painting,breaks through the two dimensions space. Shifting from perceptual vision to conceptual vision,Lin eschews the confinement of Chinese painting,and freely shuttles between the Chinese and Western art realm. The geometric construction of Yuchang Sword artfully illustrates the contrasts between the offense and defense,underscoring the aggressive ambush and the passive resistance,the acuteness of the triangles versus the bluntness of the circular composition. Lin wants to display the agile movements of the characters,while tactfully externalizing the mental states of the two and the continuity of plot development. His ability to use simple complementary colours of contrasting tone to convey the plot. The reddish black of Zhuan Zhu’s top and the sunny yellow of King Liao’s robe,with a dash of mineral green as highlight. Both characters carry fuchsia coloured lips. Lin uses white and yellow to highlight the edges of the figures. The background uses rich ink brushstrokes to divide the patches up in a horizontal and vertical manner. While the dark hair and top resemble a black waterfall,the folds on the white pants are as light as feathers. With swift straight lines,arched curves and varying shades of grey,Lin creates endless changes in the pure colours black and white. His colours,lines and shapes melt into a lyrical harmony. The viewers feel as if they are watching the Chinese opera in live performance,with the legend unfolds before their very eyes.
The Work of A Genius,Ongoing Reflection,Lin’s Dearly Beloved
It is worth noting that,with reference to Yuchang Sword,Lin mimicked the composition of it and drew Life Like Chinese Opera（included in Lin Fengmian：Works of Representatives of Shanghai Artists in the Century,published by the Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing）. In the latter piece,he made various adjustments；he emphasised on the addition of diverse colours and lessened the brushstrokes marks. Including the changing colours of the assassin’s clothes to blue,inserting layered details to King Liao’s headpiece,as well as adding green and brighter yellow to enhance the contours. An assumption was made that this piece would serve as a draft of an oil painting work,which would better heighten the richness of the colours. The creation of the second piece,as well as Lin’s photograph with Yuchang Sword to commemorate his aesthetic triumph,also shows the deep fondness he had for his work.
World Renowned Masterpiece,Ten Years Collection
The Cubism Chinese opera theme represents Lin’s splendid milestone in synthesizing the Chinese and Western aesthetics rhetoric. In Yuchang Sword,the use of smooth brushstrokes,clean division and graceful colours to illustrate the courageous assassination of King Liao display Lin’s integration of the Eastern and Western painting style. His signature block structures exhibit a rhythmic and sensual scene. This rare piece is part of the collection of an important collector,and has been illustrated in The Approach of Lin Fengmian：the Centenary of Lin Fengmian,published in China Academy of Art Publisher in 1999 and in Lin Fengmian：Works of Representatives of Shanghai Artists in the Century published in Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing in 2013.

Price estimate:
HKD：3,500,000 - 5,500,000
USD：451,600 - 709,700

Auction Result:
HKD:8,315,000