Wang Wuxie (Wucius Wong, b.1936)

inscribed, signed WANG WUXIE, and dated 1970

Acquired directly from the artist
A Private European Collection

This work is in good condition overall. There are slight abrasions to the paper surface of the work, which are inherent to the artist's working method. Framed under Plexiglas.
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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."

Wucius Wong was born in 1936 in Guangdong and moved to Hong Kong at an early age. He recalls the feeling of intellectual isolation in the 1950s and 60s, when travel was highly restricted and international culture had not really arrived in Hong Kong en full force. The solo exhibition of Zao Wuki at the New Asia College was the first time he recalls being exposed to profound works of modernism and world-class quality. This became a turning point for many artists, including Wong's eminent teacher Lü Shoukun, whose works also soon after displayed a confident move into pure abstraction. In the early 1960s, he received a scholarship to study art and design, where he actually focused on art theory. He deeply admired the Western education system and intellectual tradition for its "systematic thinking" in terms of theory and philosophy. Throughout his time abroad, he was exposed to the works of Itten, Klee, Kandinsky and Albers, which catalyzed a departure from the Chinese tradition to arrive at geometric landscapes and ink paintings in pure abstraction. In 1971 he was awarded a study grant by the John D. Rockefeller III Fund in New York. Upon his return to Hong Kong, he created Split Landscape, as an experiment with the use of acrylic on textured paper. The solid blocks of color pay tribute to the American color theorists, while the palette are meant to evoke the tones of stone and wood from Chinese paintings. This work reflects Wong's deep rooted sense of design and the fusion of his artistic training.