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Contemporary Ink Art

In this sale, we begin with the experimental works by painters of the Bokujinkai group who aimed to modernize and create accessibility for the traditional art form of calligraphy in the 1950s post-war era Japan. Their influence on extended to the West where the expressive nature of ink was embraced by foreign audiences and subsequent generations in the East where artistic expression followed a categorically Chinese tradition. The stalwart painters of Chinese descent who established careers in Hong Kong, Taiwan and as far as New York and Paris in this era, such as Lu Shoukun, Liu Guosong, Ho Huaishuo and Wang Jiqian, are considered masters of innovation in the landscape genre.

Following these modern innovators, the next generation of artists diverge from the visual notion of landscape and calligraphy to deep dive into conceptual explorations related to cultural and social change. An unusually rare group of paintings by the artist Liu Dan feature a range of signature motifs by the contemporary literatus. The sale concludes with a section emerging artists who lead global lives of the contemporary bohemian; Skilled in ink painting they pursue various paths that take a classical vocabulary in exciting new directions.