Liu Xiaodong

Galerie Loft, Paris
Acquired by the present owner from the above

Paris, Galerie Loft, Des prostituées, des travestis et des hommes qui n'ont rien à faire - Liu Xiaodong solo exhibition, 2001

Jean-Marc Decrop ed., The RedFlag Collection - Liu Xiaodong, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 73, illustrated in color

This work is in a very good condition overall. There is very light wear in the lower left corner, as well as light handling marks along the right edge and a tiny spot of accretion along the left edge. The work is framed and was not examined out of frame nor under UV light.
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.
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Born in 1963, Liu Xiaodong graduated with a bachelor's degree from Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1988.  The following year two of his works were included in the seminal China Avant-Garde exhibition at the National Gallery in Beijing, and in 1990 Liu was given his first solo exhibition in the galleries at CAFA (where he would continue with his studies for a master's, received in 1995).  Liu's work was an immediate success, presenting an astoundingly frank realism focused on scenes of daily life that was unheard of at the time.  Since then, Liu has been a leading voice in the "New Realism" movement and, indeed, one of the most influential voices of his generation.

Liu is first and foremost a painter of figures, and the nude form is one to which the artist has returned throughout his career.  Fat or thin, male or female, beautiful or ugly, clothed or naked—Liu seems to relish the unique physical characteristics of whichever sitter is before him.  And in the work on offer, Leaning to Door of 2001, the portrait subject is fascinating, indeed.  In a bright orange interior, a principal figure looks out at the viewer with a sultry, come-on glance.  This forward figure obscures what seems to be the dressing ritual of a woman behind; the background figure stands upon a bed with a black headboard and pink bedspread, her face obscured from the viewer, a black and fushia handbag hung on the wall just behind her.  There is a curious overlap in the two figures, where the forward figure's right arm might seem to extend downward below the elbow in what is actually the background figure's right leg.  This is perhaps a tongue-in-cheek compositional clue to the nature of the scene portrayed.  The curious red stripes beneath the sitter's small, perky breasts; the lack of any curvature as waist becomes belly becomes rib cage; and most of all the curious expression on the sitter's unusual face—all of these features suggests a Lola-esque character of originally male gender.  Posed and portrayed with a fully self-possessed subjectivity, this transgender figure exudes her identity with authority.  And we sense the painter's appreciation of this individual's power to become and be 'she.'

In 2001 Liu Xiaodong made a series of painting after a trip to Singapore, and Leaning to Door is from this group.  Writing of this series of "Singaporean prostitutes and transvestites," the artist states:  "The prostitutes live together in a small room, they are of different age and it shows in their face.  But they share the same fate and destiny... Transvestites... have an internal conflict, they are at the same time a man and a woman, they blend genders. I was curious about that phenomenon.  I can understand people wanting to change sex in their body, but what does it mean in their head, in their heart, in their feeling?  I was curious about it."  Liu Xioadong's Leaning to Door reveals the intensity of his desire to understand the inner workings of his sitter, who is here conveyed with an ennobling straightforwardness and respect.  The series as a whole is a deeply human expression of our common humanity, but here as elsewhere, it reveals Liu's profound love for the medium and his extraordinary representational talents.