Li Huayi

signed LI HUAYI and with three seals of the artist

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 1 May 2000, lot 330
Private Asian Collection

USA, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, The Monumental Landscapes of Li Huaiyi, 2004, cat. no 14, pp. 80-81

Overall in good condition
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Landscape with Tree is part of a series of explorations by Li Huayi of the limits of darkness. Li's jimo (built-up-ink) brush painting technique allows him to render majestic stone formations with great detail and texture that reveal both mist and stone seemingly in the same stroke. The large stone formation placed squarely in the center of the painting poses an unusual contrast to traditional landscapes that favor a narrow, gradual ascent into the distance. Every part of the paper surface has been touched by the artist's brush with intention, and it is this unusually comprehensive composition style of leaving little open space that typifies Li's elegant landscapes. As the title suggests, the pine tree is the focal point within the landscape.  A traditional symbol of longevity and of high moral character, the pine tree stands in contrast to the other shrubs adhering to the rock face stands at the lower edge of the painting, like a steadfast viewer confronting the looming mountain peak. 

The present work was formerly presented as a large horizontal scroll on the occasion of Li Huayi's noteworthy exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in 2004. This unusual format, rarely seen in traditional Chinese landscape painting, was popularized by artists of the Shanghai school at the turn of the 20^th century.  In light of his early training in Shanghai, Li Huayi attributes his preference for the horizontal format to his belief that it works well in a Western art setting thus reaffirming his melding of the classical and contemporary in his art.