Lot 1020
  • 1020

SOPHIE CHANG | a. Autumn Dream b. Heart amidst the haze c. Dance of ink

Estimate
350,000 - 550,000 HKD
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Description

  • a. Autumn Dream b. Heart amidst the haze c. Dance of ink
  • a. signed in English and Pinyin, dated 18; signed in English and Pinyin, dated 2018 on the reverseb. stamped with the artist's seal; signed in English and Pinyin, dated 2018 on the reverse c. stamped with the artist's seal; signed in English and Pinyin, dated 2018 on the reverse
  • a. oil on canvasb. ink on paper c. ink on paper 
  • a. 72.8 by 60.5 cm; 28 ⅝ by 23 ¾ in.b. 98 by 185.5 cm; 38 ½ by 73 in.  c. 146.5 by 107 cm; 57 ⅝ by 42 ⅛ in. 

Provenance

Important Private Asian Collection

Condition

The works are overall in very good and their original condition. For "a. Autumn Dream", examination under UV light reveals no sign of restoration.
"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

“I also want to express all my emotions, be it fondness, anger, sorrow or joy, in the same picture, in a Chang style of painting, placing materials from two different media in the same place to develop together.”
Sophie Chang
Sophie Chang is a well-known philanthropist in Taiwan. It was not until 12 years ago that she began her artistic exploration. It was as if she was born again in the world of art. From studying and copying impressionist paintings to creating her own abstractionist works, her techniques became mature rapidly over the course of a few years. The emotional landscape of the universe, which has always been on her mind, appeared in her paintings, and she developed her own set of artistic vocabularies through the creative process. Three of Chang’s pieces are presented in this sale, and they demonstrate the artist’s mastery of both oil and ink paintings, in which the viewer can experience the inner world of the cosmos through her vast, boundless visual expressions.

Chang’s internal landscape stemmed from profound ideas obtained from years of meditation, when she let go of thoughts on worldly affairs, deepening her mind and moving her gaze onto nature. With sustained practice, she transcended above various confusions in the universe, and constructed her unique inner landscape through painting. Autumn Dream (Lot 1020) depicts a serene landscape in which willows hang low and the waves gently undulate in the lake. Against a deep and boundless forest, golden maple leaves drift down from the trees, alluding to the arrival of autumn. In this work, the artist demonstrated her skills in realistic paintings as well as abstract experimentations. Between the figurative and the abstract, a perfect balance has been achieved, and the rapidly transforming images within the transient lights and shadows in Claude Monet’s Water Lilies come to mind. In Ink paintings Dance of Ink and Heart Amidst the Haze (Lot 1020), completed in the same year,  figurative depictions were replaced entirely by abstract calligraphy brimming with the spirit of ink. Distinct from the layered application of oil paint to create delicate depictions, these paintings are unhindered by the physical forms. Instead the artist expressed the purest internal ideas with fluid application of large brushes. In richly varying darkness levels of the ink, the image in Heart Amidst the Haze resembles the character “xin” (heart), whilst in Dance of Ink, the dynamic and expressive image resembles a gracious woman, inviting the viewer to travel in the endlessly imaginative domain within the painting.