Mu Xin

executed in 2002-2003

Elizabeth Wang Gallery, New York.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.

Celebrating the Life and Art of Mu Xin, World Economic Forum, China Business Summit, Beijing, 2004.

Celebrating the Life and Art of Mu Xin, Elizabeth Wang Gallery, New York, 2004, p. 39.

Minor foxing in a few areas of the image, which can be improved by restoration. The framed image size is 26.3 by 79.3 cm
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Few people knew the art works of the late Mu Xin, but many in China and Taiwan celebrate his poetry and essays with great admiration. His tragic experience of persecution and isolation during the Cultural Revolution failed to stifle his literary freedom and eloquence. "As for myself, I still follow Flaubert's advice: 'Reveal art; conceal the artist.’ When catastrophe befalls and affects you—either in your political life, economic condition, love-life, or pursuit of art—you are reduced to a miserable and ridiculous state of existence. Your patience and endurance are not enough for you to overcome the adversity. Consequently, you are forced into the underground, which is to say, you have to fight even if you don't want to (as you have to live, to avoid death)."¹

This passage by Mu Xin is from a prison note titled "Who Is Truly Fearless?" published on the occasion of the 2001 traveling exhibition "The Art of Mu Xin: Landscape Paintings and Prison Notes". Through his words, it becomes painfully clear that Mu Xin risked his life for his writing. His absolute determination to transcend torture and suffering for the sake of his dignity and creative voice is astounding. Yet what is notably absent in Mu Xin's writings is any negative emotional reaction to his confinement and arrest. Instead, he chooses to engage in philosophical dialogue and intellectual debate, spurred by the accomplishments of Cezanne, Flaubert, Montesquieu and others. Given his rich cultural education and artistic talent, it is no surprise that his writings possess the highest levels of literary accomplishment. Likewise, his paintings embody classical ideals of both the Chinese literati and Western visionaries, such as the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi (AD 303-79) and the oil paintings Leonardo da Vinci. The resulting compositions are wholly contemporary and disrupt the tradition he seeks to evoke. 

Mu Xin is distinguished by a notable absence of the artist’s hand along with the powerful presence of a visual experience. Wheat Under Moonlight is a superb example of this painting style; the work bears likeness to landscape forms but, upon closer inspection, is difficult to characterize. The smooth lines drip and flow like photo emulsion of a developing photograph or of photographic lithography. The surface texture is composed of various colours and tonalities, with an opaque white pigment infused throughout and there is hardly any visible use of brush and ink. The paper is saturated in deep blue-black hues that call attention to the richness of the ink medium, achieving a tone with a graphite-like translucence that is impossible to capture in reproductionMu Xin’s technique is inspired by “decalcomania,” the technique of transferring images from one surface to another. It was notably used by the French Spanish-born Surrealist painter Oscar Dominguez (1906-1957) who was known to press dark gauche between two surfaces and exert pressure on the paper to create unusually haunting yet strangely beautiful images. This process of “automatic” painting (i.e. allowing randomly created marks to suggest landscape imagery, as if created by nature), can also been seen in attributes of paintings by Song dynasty masters Mi Fu and his son Mi Youren (1074-1151). Indeed, by studying these early works, one can see evidence of various techniques that include ink squeezing or rubbing, styles that seem to be employed by Mu Xin. 

Mu Xin’s life is one of tragic heroism. He always dreamt of becoming an artist. Born into an affluent family in Shanghai in 1927, Mu Xin was of the last generation in China educated in the classical literati tradition. A distant relative of the acclaimed author Mao Dun, Mu Xin’s family was appointed as caretakers of the literary luminary’s library during the Japanese invasion of China. Mu Xin grew up devouring the books, which ranged from the Bible, Shakespeare and Tolstoy, to Chinese classics such as the Book of Songs. But the freedom to cultivate his artistic longing was cut short by the chaos of the mid-20^th century. Mao Dun’s library was later destroyed, an act that Mu Xin recalled with the utmost lament. And he would later endure the tragedy of witnessing his own life’s work destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. While imprisoned for many years, Mu Xin then put his life at risk to continue writing, and ultimately to smuggle his work out of prison with him.

Although he was trapped by circumstance, Mu Xin was an artist truly ahead of his time. His work breaks down the boundaries between East and West, ancient and the modern. And while his struggles were tragic, he was able to define himself by his ability to heroically transcend his personal adversity for the sake of his creative voice, for which he will always be remembered. 

¹ The Art and Life of Mu Xin: Landscape Paintings and Prison Notes, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 2001, p. 137.