Lot 507
  • 507

Wang Dongling

Estimate
250,000 - 350,000 HKD
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Description

  • Wang Dongling
  • Harmonious Opposition
  • Signed and dated lower right, 2006
  • ink on paper
  • 2006
signed WANG DONGLING and dated 2006 in pencil

Literature

Kuo, Jason C., Chinese Ink Painting Now, Distributed Art Publishers, New York, USA; Timezone 8, Hong Kong, China, 2010, pp. 112-113

Condition

Overall in very good condition. This work was temporarily remounted on paper and is framed for exhibition display.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Recognized as China's greatest living calligrapher, Wang Dongling is best known for his performances of monumental cursive script that reinterpret calligraphy through performance and embrace gestural abstraction. His solid and structural forms are reminiscent of Abstract Expressionist painter Franz Kline, and his live calligraphic action painting brings to mind those of Yuichi and Shiraga. However, the concept of abstraction and non-objective painting is fundamental to the thousand-year history of Chinese painting, whose philosophical aims were to achieve not realism but an emotional expression of the natural world. To Wang, calligraphy is the root of Chinese culture, where characters constantly evolve in their forms and lines throughout history. Since calligraphy is the aesthetic appreciation of Chinese characters, it is also the aesthetic appreciation of the cultural legacy itself. Wang's modernist Chinese calligraphy delivers a viable approach to the direct linkage between the past and the present in today's China.

In the present lot, Harmonious Opposition (LOT 507) is an animated illustration of Chinese characters loosely translated as "fierce, soft and harmonious." Unlike the Abstract Expressionists who sought to displace the gesture of the artist, Wang draws upon the calligraphic tradition to embrace the presence of the artist and the inherent qualities of calligraphic script and ink painting and to focus on the material and personal expression.

Born in a small coastal town in Jiangsu province, Wang graduated from the China National Academy of Art in 1981. He rapidly became one of China's most renowned modernist calligraphers, recognised for his works that embody performance and gestural abstraction. Wang is currently the director of Modern Calligraphy Study Centre at the China National Academy of Arts in Hangzhou. His works have been prominently exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, and the Palace Museum, Beijing.