Gao Xingjian

signed GAO XINGJIAN and dated 2005

Sotheby's, New York, 17 September 2008, lot 76

United Kingdom, London, Saatchi Gallery, Ink: The Art of China, 19 June - 5 July, 2012, p. 120

China Onward, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2007, pp. 78-79
Kuo, Jason C., Chinese Ink Painting Now, Distributed Art Publishers, New York, USA; Timezone 8, Hong Kong, China, 2010, pp. 2-3, 76-77

Overall in very good condition. Framed size: 154.3 x 212.7 cm; 60 3/4 x 83 3/4 in.
"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."

Gao Xingjian—the world celebrated novelist, playwright, translator (particularly of eminent writers Samuel Beckett and Eugène Ionesco) and first Chinese-born writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000—is a multidisciplinary master of both the written word and the art of Chinese ink. Under the tutelage of his father, he studied drawing, watercolor, sculpture, Chinese calligraphy and European oil painting with the intention to study art at university. However, he was persuaded to study French at the Beijing Institute of Foreign Languages and graduated in 1962 to become a translator. He continued to paint and write essays, short stories and plays until 1983, when he was forbidden to publish or perform in China. Self-exiled from the country since 1989, Gao now lives in Paris, where he continues to create contemplative works that demonstrate insight and ingenuity, while addressing culturally charged themes. Dream Mountain (LOT 510) is a magnificent abstract landscape depicting an ethereal world. Like the traditional Chinese paintings it references, the work features a cosmic point of perspective that positions the viewer on high, as if looking down from the heavens. The fluid use of ink on paper is especially masterful in its subtle tonal gradations, which allude to the objective of deriving the "five colors of ink"—the full tonal range—in a single work.