- 1026
LI YUAN-CHIA (LI YUANJIA) | Senza titolo
Estimate
350,000 - 550,000 HKD
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Description
- Li Yuan-chia (Li Yuanjia)
- Senza titolo
- oil on canvas
- 130 by 40 cm; 51 ⅛ by 15 ¾ in
executed in 1963
Provenance
Important Private European Collection
Exhibited
London, Sotheby’s S|2 Gallery, Li Yuan-Chia, 8 June – 1 August 2017
Literature
Darren Leak and Bianca Chu, ed., Li Yuan-Chia, Sotheby’s S|2 Gallery, London, 2017, p. 29
Condition
The work is overall in very good and its original condition. There is no sign of restoration under UV light 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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
Post-War Asian Art The Second World War, which ended in 1945, was a watershed moment in the development of modern art. Pre-WWII Paris was the centre of modern art, attracting top artists from around the world. Starting with impressionism in mid-19th century, an expansive art revolution began, with various movements emerging one after another, such as cubism, fauvism through to École de Paris eventually expanding into a revolution of grand global scale. Nevertheless, after the Second World War, during which human civilization was almost obliterated, modern art was reborn. Starting from the 1940s and 50s, different development trends began to emerge. The ideas and works that came from this period until the 1970s are called Post-War Art, a brand new paradigm based on post-war political, economic and cultural climates. Below are some of its fundamental features:
1. The core group of artists in Post-War Art was born between the First and the Second World-War (around 1920s to 1940s). Most of them were born into a booming global economy after the WWI, yet experienced the brutal WWII in their youth. As adults, they faced the threats of the evasive and unpredictable US-Soviet Cold War. As a result, they also formed a relatively similar set of life outlook and world views. Compared to artists in previous eras, their works display a much higher degree of commonality specific to their time. Even when interacting with artists from drastically different ethnical background and countries of different cultures, they were able to engage in profound exchanges and find common ground despite individual differences. The result was a deep integration between Eastern and Western cultures.
2. Before WWII, opinions were dominated by countries in the West, due to their overall strength as nations. Assimilations of Eastern elements generally happened at face value; after WWII, countries in the East grew as their Western counterparts became less dominant. Alongside global movements against imperialism, colonialism and hegemonism, sovereignty had been returned to Asian countries which were once occupied by military force of Western nations for over a hundred years, leading to a trend towards equalization of exchanges between Eastern and Western cultures. Such a shift was evidenced by the phenomenon that compared to the times before WWII, Asian artists were much more widely acknowledged and championed in Europe and America, where they were based on a long term basis.
3. Before WWII, modern art displayed great confidence in modern civilization, with the Western society as its representative. After WWII, modern art demonstrated a deep level of reflection after modern civilization became over-inflated and almost destroyed itself. Simultaneously, it also showed more genuine respect towards and willingness to learn from Eastern civilizations and traditional cultures. Such changes led to a post-war art climate that was much more accommodating and coordinated between ancient and modern times, as well as Eastern and Western cultures.
4. In the 1950s and 60s, geographically, post-war art development still found its centers in European and American cities such as Paris, London, Milan and New York, yet in terms of nationalities, ethnic and cultural origins of the artists, the post-war art masters clearly came from more diverse backgrounds, leading to a more internationalized state of development; after the 1970s, as Asian countries increasingly opened themselves up to the outside world, more and more post-war artists chose Asian locations as their bases, leading to the beginning of post-1980s contemporary art.
5. The emergence of contemporary Asian art began in late-19th century and early-20th The pioneers often studied abroad with the ambition to embark on groundbreaking ventures in their home countries. They laid the foundation of modern art in Asia and became founding fathers of modern art institutions in Asia. Very few remained in Europe and America to pursue their art careers. Post-war artists were very different. The first generation of pioneers had already passed on the knowledge of modern art when they returned home, so this next generation had a chance to develop their understanding of modern art in their youth. When they travelled abroad to study, they tended to be more mature in age and possess clearer ideas about their own cultural identities and views on art. They travelled abroad to be a part of the avant-garde, to compete in the Western art world. Their careers and achievements tended to be widely acknowledged as living artists, many of whom were revered both in the East and the West, becoming great masters renowned internationally.
As the first international auctioning platform with dedicated modern Asian art sales, Sotheby’s has been committed to the establishment of the concept of 20th Century Chinese Art since the 1990s. Our Modern Asian Art category is developed as a result of a dedicated effort over the past two decades. From our many successful cases of championing international masters such as Zao Wou-ki, Chu Teh-Chun and Wu Guanzhong, through to dedicated sales in recent years for artists in Movimento Punto such as Hsiao Chin Li Yuan-Chia and Azuma Kenjiro, our vision has been to reinforce the heritage of modern Asian art theories and development through international auctions that are both educational and influential in society, so that an independent system can be developed that stands as a substantial force on its own alongside Europe and America. As the concept of modern Asian art continues to mature among the public as well collectors, we are proud to present in Spring 2018, when Sotheby’s Hong Kong celebrates its 35th anniversary, a dedicated Post-War Asian Art sale. Through the many important works by post-war Asian artists, we hope to further illustrate the significance as well as brilliance of such works. From Zao Wou-ki’s early works when he travelled to France, the Punto Movement, which was the first of its kind promoting Eastern philosophy in the Western art scene, Zao who was elected a member of the l’Institut de France, Chu Teh-Chun’s masterpieces, Wu Guanzhong who returned to China from overseas early in his career, through to the Tongdairen Group, led by Wu’s protégé Wang Huaiqing, our selection in this sale completes a historical mission of Modern Asian Art’s journey in the entire 20th century from travelling West to returning East, offering an opportunity for collectors to appreciate these masterpieces while taking in a grand view of the development of history.
Sotheby’s Modern Asian Art Department
March 2018
Movimento Punto:
Refashioning the World from a Single Point
After the Second World War, global art quickly regained its pre-war vitality. The dramatic changes in the world stimulated artists creatively, and new thinking rapidly emerged. Whereas Paris was the undisputed centre of pre-war art, the post-war art world was multi-centred, with London, Milan, and New York all boasting important masters. They not only made individual breakthroughs, but also organised themselves into various avant-garde groups and movements that were no less important and influential than the pre-war modernist movements. Within this lively scene, the Movimento Punto, started in Milan in 1961 by Hsiao Chin, Li Yuan-Chia, Kenjiro Azuma, and Antonio Calderara, was the only international movement centrally inspired by the Asian philosophical worldview. The movement received the approval of many key Western artists, including Lucio Fontana, who joined it emphatically and lent his fame to it. According to a conversation between a Sotheby's specialist and Hsiao Chin in June 2017, Fontana even generously donated his works to Punto exhibitions, donating all the sale proceeds to support the movement. After its founding in 1961, the Movimento Punto organised its first exhibition in May 1962 at Galleria Cadario in Milan, and soon gained international attention. The second Punto exhibition of 1962 was held at the Palacio de la Virreina in the city centre of Barcelona. The use of this 200-year-old palace was especially approved by the Barcelona government, which approved of and supported the Movimento Punto. At this point, the movement's membership reached its peak, encompassing 26 artists from eleven countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. From this point onwards until 1968, Punto organised thirteen exhibitions across most of western Europe, and in 1963 even reached Asia by holding an exhibition at the newly-established National Art Museum of Taiwan (now National Taiwan Arts Education Center) at No. 47 Nanhai Road in Taipei. This was a signal achievement in post-war art history and a milestone in the modern Asia art's "reverse conquest" of the West.
"Dove va l’arte?
Il Punto.
Il punto è l’inizio e la fine della creazione; Capire il vero significato del punto è conoscere la vita e l’esistenza eternal dell’ universo."
Li Yuan-Chia, 1st March 1964
Punto is Italian for "point." The spirit of "contemplation" that Movimento Punto advocates is grounded in the point as a visual symbol. Contemplation originated in Eastern philosophy, and is a key feature of the intellectual and self-cultivational practices of Buddhism, Chinese Daoism, and Indian Brahminism and Śramaṇa alike. The point is the ultimate and indivisible element of the universe, made comprehensible through contemplation. Punto artists used the point as a totem to break through the bottleneck in which Western art was trapped in the late 1950's. In particular, the Punto artists sought to reconnect abstract painting, which had increasingly become technical play devoid of spiritual substance, with meaning and its spiritual origins. Among the founders of Movimento Punto, Li Yuan-Chia had the most mysterious biography. He was born in Guangxi and educated in Taiwan, Italy, and the United Kingdom. His works have rarely been seen in Asia over the past two decades. It was only in 2015 that the Taipei Fine Arts Museum organised Li's first solo exhibition in Asia. Strikingly, the recognition of his status in Asia post-dated that in the West by some five decades: already in the 1960's and 70's, major galleries in Italy and the United Kingdom organised solo exhibitions of his works, which were collected by museums in Spain, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, and Belgium. In August 2017, Sotheby's organised a major retrospective of his work in its S|2 space in London, comprehensively presenting his biography and artistic accomplishments. In that year's autumn auctions of modern and contemporary art at Sotheby's Hong Kong, Li Yuan-Chia's works were a highlight, setting the personal auction record of HKD 1.75 million and generating tremendous attention. The lot on offer, Senzi titolo (Lot 1026), is the largest oil painting on canvas to have appeared in the auction market. At 130 x 40.5 cm, it is several or even several dozen times the size of similar works to have appeared in auctions in recent years, indicating its rarity and importance.
In 1962, Li Yuan-Chia left Taipei for Milan to join Hsiao Chin and the others as a core member of Movimento Punto. Li's artistic philosophy had reached maturity, and his concept of the "cosmic point" became foundational for the movement. In creating Senza titolo, the artist sat in meditation for a long time to purify his mind and enter a state of concentration, free from emotions and fleeting thoughts. Then, using the simplest colours and brushwork, he recorded his state of mind in a diagram of life. His works featured only the four colours of black, red, gold, and white. In Senza titolo, he creates a space with red, which symbolises "blood and life," and adds to it dots of black and gold, which symbolise respectively "origin and end" and "nobility." The work appears as a colon--an anticipation of boundless content. During his years in Italy, Li Yuan-Chia earned the recognition and support of the internationally renowned furniture design Dino Gavina, and worked in his studio. Gavina was close to many post-war artists. In his 1998 book Dino Gavina -- Ultrazionale Ultramobile, he recounts the friendships he enjoyed with avant-garde artists, among them Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Lucio Fontana, and Li Yuan-Chia. This is a testament as much to Gavina's wisdom and sophistication as to Li's understatedness and talent. Senza titolo is not only an intuitive distillation of Eastern philosophy. In its use of the simplest surface to evoke a space and create a "point" that touches the meaning of art and the viewer's mind and spirit directly, it is also a response to Minimalism and Spatialism, dominant artistic trends in post-war Italy.
1. The core group of artists in Post-War Art was born between the First and the Second World-War (around 1920s to 1940s). Most of them were born into a booming global economy after the WWI, yet experienced the brutal WWII in their youth. As adults, they faced the threats of the evasive and unpredictable US-Soviet Cold War. As a result, they also formed a relatively similar set of life outlook and world views. Compared to artists in previous eras, their works display a much higher degree of commonality specific to their time. Even when interacting with artists from drastically different ethnical background and countries of different cultures, they were able to engage in profound exchanges and find common ground despite individual differences. The result was a deep integration between Eastern and Western cultures.
2. Before WWII, opinions were dominated by countries in the West, due to their overall strength as nations. Assimilations of Eastern elements generally happened at face value; after WWII, countries in the East grew as their Western counterparts became less dominant. Alongside global movements against imperialism, colonialism and hegemonism, sovereignty had been returned to Asian countries which were once occupied by military force of Western nations for over a hundred years, leading to a trend towards equalization of exchanges between Eastern and Western cultures. Such a shift was evidenced by the phenomenon that compared to the times before WWII, Asian artists were much more widely acknowledged and championed in Europe and America, where they were based on a long term basis.
3. Before WWII, modern art displayed great confidence in modern civilization, with the Western society as its representative. After WWII, modern art demonstrated a deep level of reflection after modern civilization became over-inflated and almost destroyed itself. Simultaneously, it also showed more genuine respect towards and willingness to learn from Eastern civilizations and traditional cultures. Such changes led to a post-war art climate that was much more accommodating and coordinated between ancient and modern times, as well as Eastern and Western cultures.
4. In the 1950s and 60s, geographically, post-war art development still found its centers in European and American cities such as Paris, London, Milan and New York, yet in terms of nationalities, ethnic and cultural origins of the artists, the post-war art masters clearly came from more diverse backgrounds, leading to a more internationalized state of development; after the 1970s, as Asian countries increasingly opened themselves up to the outside world, more and more post-war artists chose Asian locations as their bases, leading to the beginning of post-1980s contemporary art.
5. The emergence of contemporary Asian art began in late-19th century and early-20th The pioneers often studied abroad with the ambition to embark on groundbreaking ventures in their home countries. They laid the foundation of modern art in Asia and became founding fathers of modern art institutions in Asia. Very few remained in Europe and America to pursue their art careers. Post-war artists were very different. The first generation of pioneers had already passed on the knowledge of modern art when they returned home, so this next generation had a chance to develop their understanding of modern art in their youth. When they travelled abroad to study, they tended to be more mature in age and possess clearer ideas about their own cultural identities and views on art. They travelled abroad to be a part of the avant-garde, to compete in the Western art world. Their careers and achievements tended to be widely acknowledged as living artists, many of whom were revered both in the East and the West, becoming great masters renowned internationally.
As the first international auctioning platform with dedicated modern Asian art sales, Sotheby’s has been committed to the establishment of the concept of 20th Century Chinese Art since the 1990s. Our Modern Asian Art category is developed as a result of a dedicated effort over the past two decades. From our many successful cases of championing international masters such as Zao Wou-ki, Chu Teh-Chun and Wu Guanzhong, through to dedicated sales in recent years for artists in Movimento Punto such as Hsiao Chin Li Yuan-Chia and Azuma Kenjiro, our vision has been to reinforce the heritage of modern Asian art theories and development through international auctions that are both educational and influential in society, so that an independent system can be developed that stands as a substantial force on its own alongside Europe and America. As the concept of modern Asian art continues to mature among the public as well collectors, we are proud to present in Spring 2018, when Sotheby’s Hong Kong celebrates its 35th anniversary, a dedicated Post-War Asian Art sale. Through the many important works by post-war Asian artists, we hope to further illustrate the significance as well as brilliance of such works. From Zao Wou-ki’s early works when he travelled to France, the Punto Movement, which was the first of its kind promoting Eastern philosophy in the Western art scene, Zao who was elected a member of the l’Institut de France, Chu Teh-Chun’s masterpieces, Wu Guanzhong who returned to China from overseas early in his career, through to the Tongdairen Group, led by Wu’s protégé Wang Huaiqing, our selection in this sale completes a historical mission of Modern Asian Art’s journey in the entire 20th century from travelling West to returning East, offering an opportunity for collectors to appreciate these masterpieces while taking in a grand view of the development of history.
Sotheby’s Modern Asian Art Department
March 2018
Movimento Punto:
Refashioning the World from a Single Point
After the Second World War, global art quickly regained its pre-war vitality. The dramatic changes in the world stimulated artists creatively, and new thinking rapidly emerged. Whereas Paris was the undisputed centre of pre-war art, the post-war art world was multi-centred, with London, Milan, and New York all boasting important masters. They not only made individual breakthroughs, but also organised themselves into various avant-garde groups and movements that were no less important and influential than the pre-war modernist movements. Within this lively scene, the Movimento Punto, started in Milan in 1961 by Hsiao Chin, Li Yuan-Chia, Kenjiro Azuma, and Antonio Calderara, was the only international movement centrally inspired by the Asian philosophical worldview. The movement received the approval of many key Western artists, including Lucio Fontana, who joined it emphatically and lent his fame to it. According to a conversation between a Sotheby's specialist and Hsiao Chin in June 2017, Fontana even generously donated his works to Punto exhibitions, donating all the sale proceeds to support the movement. After its founding in 1961, the Movimento Punto organised its first exhibition in May 1962 at Galleria Cadario in Milan, and soon gained international attention. The second Punto exhibition of 1962 was held at the Palacio de la Virreina in the city centre of Barcelona. The use of this 200-year-old palace was especially approved by the Barcelona government, which approved of and supported the Movimento Punto. At this point, the movement's membership reached its peak, encompassing 26 artists from eleven countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. From this point onwards until 1968, Punto organised thirteen exhibitions across most of western Europe, and in 1963 even reached Asia by holding an exhibition at the newly-established National Art Museum of Taiwan (now National Taiwan Arts Education Center) at No. 47 Nanhai Road in Taipei. This was a signal achievement in post-war art history and a milestone in the modern Asia art's "reverse conquest" of the West.
"Dove va l’arte?
Il Punto.
Il punto è l’inizio e la fine della creazione; Capire il vero significato del punto è conoscere la vita e l’esistenza eternal dell’ universo."
Li Yuan-Chia, 1st March 1964
Punto is Italian for "point." The spirit of "contemplation" that Movimento Punto advocates is grounded in the point as a visual symbol. Contemplation originated in Eastern philosophy, and is a key feature of the intellectual and self-cultivational practices of Buddhism, Chinese Daoism, and Indian Brahminism and Śramaṇa alike. The point is the ultimate and indivisible element of the universe, made comprehensible through contemplation. Punto artists used the point as a totem to break through the bottleneck in which Western art was trapped in the late 1950's. In particular, the Punto artists sought to reconnect abstract painting, which had increasingly become technical play devoid of spiritual substance, with meaning and its spiritual origins. Among the founders of Movimento Punto, Li Yuan-Chia had the most mysterious biography. He was born in Guangxi and educated in Taiwan, Italy, and the United Kingdom. His works have rarely been seen in Asia over the past two decades. It was only in 2015 that the Taipei Fine Arts Museum organised Li's first solo exhibition in Asia. Strikingly, the recognition of his status in Asia post-dated that in the West by some five decades: already in the 1960's and 70's, major galleries in Italy and the United Kingdom organised solo exhibitions of his works, which were collected by museums in Spain, Germany, Brazil, Switzerland, and Belgium. In August 2017, Sotheby's organised a major retrospective of his work in its S|2 space in London, comprehensively presenting his biography and artistic accomplishments. In that year's autumn auctions of modern and contemporary art at Sotheby's Hong Kong, Li Yuan-Chia's works were a highlight, setting the personal auction record of HKD 1.75 million and generating tremendous attention. The lot on offer, Senzi titolo (Lot 1026), is the largest oil painting on canvas to have appeared in the auction market. At 130 x 40.5 cm, it is several or even several dozen times the size of similar works to have appeared in auctions in recent years, indicating its rarity and importance.
In 1962, Li Yuan-Chia left Taipei for Milan to join Hsiao Chin and the others as a core member of Movimento Punto. Li's artistic philosophy had reached maturity, and his concept of the "cosmic point" became foundational for the movement. In creating Senza titolo, the artist sat in meditation for a long time to purify his mind and enter a state of concentration, free from emotions and fleeting thoughts. Then, using the simplest colours and brushwork, he recorded his state of mind in a diagram of life. His works featured only the four colours of black, red, gold, and white. In Senza titolo, he creates a space with red, which symbolises "blood and life," and adds to it dots of black and gold, which symbolise respectively "origin and end" and "nobility." The work appears as a colon--an anticipation of boundless content. During his years in Italy, Li Yuan-Chia earned the recognition and support of the internationally renowned furniture design Dino Gavina, and worked in his studio. Gavina was close to many post-war artists. In his 1998 book Dino Gavina -- Ultrazionale Ultramobile, he recounts the friendships he enjoyed with avant-garde artists, among them Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Lucio Fontana, and Li Yuan-Chia. This is a testament as much to Gavina's wisdom and sophistication as to Li's understatedness and talent. Senza titolo is not only an intuitive distillation of Eastern philosophy. In its use of the simplest surface to evoke a space and create a "point" that touches the meaning of art and the viewer's mind and spirit directly, it is also a response to Minimalism and Spatialism, dominant artistic trends in post-war Italy.