Lot 703
  • 703

Wang Guangle

Estimate
600,000 - 800,000 HKD
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Description

  • Wang Guangle
  • Coffin Paint Series 071103
  • acrylic on canvas
executed in 2007

Provenance

Private Asian Collection

Exhibited

China, Beijing, Li-Space, Textbook: An Exhibition of Lively Chinese Paintings, 26 June to 26 July, 2009

Condition

This work is generally in good condition. There is a small speck of accretion near the central left edge, as well as one small spot of soiling near the bottom left corner. Please note that this work was not examined under ultraviolet light.
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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."

Catalogue Note

Wang Guangle’s works are crystallisations of time and the manifestations of the artist’s mental universe. After achieving widespread renown with his 2000 Afternoon, Wang Guangle began his Terrazzo series. In 2004, he abandoned figuration in favour of conceptual abstraction to focus on conceptualisation and process, which he distills into his abstract paintings. The Coffin Paint series originated in the custom among elderly people in the artist’s hometown of painting their coffins every year in preparation of their deaths. Wang Guangle lays a canvas flat and then applies layers of paint to it, waiting after each application. Time is thus encoded in the layers. 071103 is a remarkable work in the Coffin Paint series, with the latter’s characteristic near-monochrome palette. The rendition of light in 071103 recalls Wang’s earlier Afternoon series, while the subtle chromatic transitions are to be found also in his minimalist Untitled series begun in the same year. An important distillation of Wang Guangle’s years-long practice, 071103 is without a doubt a milestone in his career and of immense art-historical value.