Wu Dayu

Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Wu Dayu, Lin & Keng Gallery, Inc., Taipei, 2006, p. 60
Shanghai Artists Association, ed., Works of Representatives of Shanghai Artists in the Century: Wu Dayu, Shanghai Shu Hua Publishing House, Shanghai, 2013, p. 60
Wu Da-Yu, People's Fine Arts Publishing House, Beijing, 2015, p. 72, illustrated in colour

This work is overall in very good condition. The overall surface is varnished. Minor hairline craquelures can be randomly found across the overall surface under very close examination. There is no sign of restoration under UV examination.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

Wu Dayu, Untitled 24

Wu Dayu was a pioneer of Chinese oil painting. His bold and capacious theory of Dynamic Expressionism modernised traditional Chinese philosophy and concepts of art and formed an aesthetic system that was an answer to post-War Western varieties of abstract art. Aside from Wu Dayu himself, his students such as Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun, Wu Guanzhong, and Lalan all came under the influence of the theory of Dynamic Expressionism through their correspondence with Wu during the Sino-Japanese War. Dynamic Expressionism informed their subsequent exposure to Western abstraction in France and attempts to reconcile Eastern and Western art. Together, the artists established Dynamic Expressionism as a major school of painting on an equal footing as its contemporaneous French abstraction and American abstract expressionism.

Untitled 24 (Lot 1021) is a masterpiece of Wu Dayu’s abstract art. Here Wu repeatedly layers lines and blocks in vivid greens and blues, creating a dense structure that appears chaotic but is in fact thoughtfully arranged: from outside to inside, the emerald tones are interwoven with saturated yellows and gradually become lighter, sharpening into something approaching highlights towards the middle. Careful analysis reveals a vague image of a kingfisher embedded in the highly abstract composition, with vibrant feathers, an attentive gaze, and a claw in the shape of the shan (mountain) character turned upside down. The bird rests on a rectangular vase, which allows the setting of the painting to be interpreted as an interior space.

Wu Dayu’s Dynamic Expressionism was informed philosophically by the Daoist notions of yin and yang, solid and void and Buddhist ontology of existent emptiness; and, visually, by the xieyi aesthetics of Chinese painting, which he attempted to re-present in the oil medium. Wu Dayu went to France as a student in 1920, studying and working in the studios of the master sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and Georges Braque, the founder of Cubism. His paintings thus contain traces of Cubism’s deconstruction and reconstruction of form as well as a sculptural substantiality. Untitled 24 exists in the interstice between abstraction and figuration. The composition that allows free interpretations of space is a key theme in Wu Dayu’s theory of Dynamic Expressionism, articulated in the phrase “flying light captures the resonance of colours.” The artist distills the essence of observed reality to discover a beauty that cannot be seen by the naked eye, and commits it to canvas. The painting suggests the forms of flowers and a kingfisher, whose gaze and expression refer to traditional bird-and-flower painting and particularly the work of the early-Qing master Bada Shanren (1626-1705). The solitary mood precisely mirrors Wu Dayu’s state of being in the 1940’s and 50’s. As Gu Yao, Assistant Researcher at the National Museum of China with a doctoral degree from Tsinghua University, points out, “Wu Dayu lived an untrammeled and independent life in accordance with the ideals of Wei-Jin period recluses like Tao Yuanming, immersing himself in painting and poetry and shunning fame and fortune. He sought to transcend the mundane world, resolutely preserving an individual will and forging his own path in a life of art.” In this work, Wu Dayu invites us into this private space of spiritual contentment and abundance in spite of material simplicity.