Li Jin

painted in 2001
signed and titled in Chinese, and marked with one seal of the artist

Courtyard Gallery, Beijing
Private American Collection

China, Beijing, Courtyard Gallery, Li Jin New Works Exhibition, 2001, p. 29

Overall in good condition. Hanging scroll measure 136 by 67.5 cm; 53 1/2 by 26 5/8 in. and is mounted on silk wrapped board under a custom made acrylic box measuring 187 by 80 by 8.8 cm; 73 5/8 by 31 1/2 by 3 1/2 in.
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Young Lady Breeding Gold Fish (Lot 568) and Walking Beauty (Lot 567) are distinctive examples of Li Jin's paintings from the early 2000s and representative of his works first exhibited in formal gallery exhibitions. In contrast to the bright mineral pigments used by the artist in later works, Li Jin uses a muted colour palette to create his figurative portraits from this period. Li Jin pays tribute to his protagonists as confident examples of modernity through symbols of fused cultural influences and links to the past and present.  Lot 568 depicts an elegant woman in richly patterned Western dress surrounded by plump goldfish, Chinese symbols of wealth and prosperity. Li Jin provides an inscription at the top of the painting heralding the woman with goldfish and marking its creation at the beginning of a new millennium. As each image depicts visions of personal identity in the contemporary era, Lot 567 features a confident trio of ladies in various fashion combining Chinese-styled pant-suits with Western collars, qipao-inspired tops and individualized hairstyles from past eras.

The two present lots were created for the artist's first solo exhibition in 2001 in Beijing at the Courtyard Gallery—one of the earliest commercial spaces showcasing contemporary art in China and representing some of the most prominent Chinese artists recognized around the world today—and pre-empted a formative period of international exposure for Li Jin. As one of the leading artists in China of his generation, Li Jin was selected to showcase his diaristic ink paintings in a wave of group exhibitions introducing Chinese contemporary art in the US and Europe. During this period, the accelerating growth of China and rising prominence of Chinese artists on the international stage provided a spotlight for the unique artistic practices developed following the Cultural Revolution. In the early 2000s, solo exhibitions of Li Jin's figurative ink wash paintings were prominently displayed in Stockholm, Sydney, Beijing, Seoul, Hong Kong, and Seattle. His humorous paintings of scenes from his daily observations and musings transcended cultural barriers. Aptly titled A Feast, his exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum in 2003 provided a rich visual display of important works with a distinctive artistic language and universal appeal. It was the museum's first solo exhibition for a contemporary Chinese artist since the 1960s.