- 1040
GUAN LIANG | After Bath
Estimate
1,500,000 - 2,500,000 HKD
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Description
- Guan Liang
- After Bath
- oil on canvas
- 82.2 by 72.2 cm; 32 ⅜ by 28 ½ in.
executed in 1963
Provenance
Collection of Guan Hanxing
Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector
Acquired directly from the above by the present important private Asian collector
Exhibited
Taipei, Keng Gallery, Guan Liang Solo Exhibition, 2 - 24 June 2012
Literature
CANS Art News Editing Team, ed., Guan Liang 1900 - 1986, Chinese Art Books Co., Taipei, 2012, p.111
Condition
The work is overall in very good condition. Examination under UV light reveals a few very minor spots of retouching to the extreme right edge of the canvas.
"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
“Chinese painting places its emphasis on the use of the brush, and is focused primarily on the line. Its study of the treatment of light, or volume, is less prominent. Yet since the Middle Ages, the West has striven to express the light, space, and three-dimensionality of objects.” Excerpt from Memoirs of Guan Liang, Chapter 6
In comparison with Lady with a Fan, After Bath (Lot 1040) more strongly manifests Guan Liang’s iconic treatment of the human form. It is also the largest nude female oil painting by Guan Liang offered in auction. After Bath, completed in 1963, was considered daring and avant-garde for the times, in both subject and style. The artist created more than one painting with this composition, revealing his special interest and fondness for it. The painting did not comply with the style of Soviet Realism that was dominant in China in the 1950s and 60s. Its rendering of the human form is warped and one-dimensional, combined with a beautifully supple and bold pink colour tone. With the lady’s back facing the viewer, and the body language expressed by her posture while brushing her hair, head slightly turned, the image of the woman clearly echoes the classic renderings of bathing women by the Impressionist masters Edgar Degas and Auguste Renoir. This painting is yet another testament to Guan Liang’s deep study of Western art. Departing from the techniques employed in Lady with a Fan, After Bath no longer relies on light and shadow to create volume, but rather uses ink lines to trace out the woman’s figure, which is filled in with flat colour in a style that more closely resembles Guan Liang’s ink-and-colour techniques. In this way, one can see how the artist has masterfully united the techniques of oil painting and traditional Chinese painting.
Pink colour tones are another important characteristic of Guan Liang’s work, as well as a sign of his arrival at complete artistic maturity. This ultimate style combines the Fauvist’s vigorous and unrestrained philosophy of colour with the atmosphere of Beijing opera, including the dramatic aura of the stage and the mood of powder and makeup. The artist’s pink tones are soft and full, standing stylistically in between the intense colour of the Fauvists and Chinese calligraphy’s simple and elegant ink. At the same time, it reflects the artist’s own open and gentle temperament. Within the same generation of Chinese oil painters, Sanyu was also skilled at using pinks. If Sanyu’s pinks bring forth an air of intoxicating romanticism and nobility, then the pinks in After Bath carry with them a sense of a steadfast innocence and purity, as well as a magnanimity that is all-capacious, containing the entire theatre of mankind In this way, the painting fully showcases the classical language of a generation’s master.
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Guan Hanxing, the artist's son
In comparison with Lady with a Fan, After Bath (Lot 1040) more strongly manifests Guan Liang’s iconic treatment of the human form. It is also the largest nude female oil painting by Guan Liang offered in auction. After Bath, completed in 1963, was considered daring and avant-garde for the times, in both subject and style. The artist created more than one painting with this composition, revealing his special interest and fondness for it. The painting did not comply with the style of Soviet Realism that was dominant in China in the 1950s and 60s. Its rendering of the human form is warped and one-dimensional, combined with a beautifully supple and bold pink colour tone. With the lady’s back facing the viewer, and the body language expressed by her posture while brushing her hair, head slightly turned, the image of the woman clearly echoes the classic renderings of bathing women by the Impressionist masters Edgar Degas and Auguste Renoir. This painting is yet another testament to Guan Liang’s deep study of Western art. Departing from the techniques employed in Lady with a Fan, After Bath no longer relies on light and shadow to create volume, but rather uses ink lines to trace out the woman’s figure, which is filled in with flat colour in a style that more closely resembles Guan Liang’s ink-and-colour techniques. In this way, one can see how the artist has masterfully united the techniques of oil painting and traditional Chinese painting.
Pink colour tones are another important characteristic of Guan Liang’s work, as well as a sign of his arrival at complete artistic maturity. This ultimate style combines the Fauvist’s vigorous and unrestrained philosophy of colour with the atmosphere of Beijing opera, including the dramatic aura of the stage and the mood of powder and makeup. The artist’s pink tones are soft and full, standing stylistically in between the intense colour of the Fauvists and Chinese calligraphy’s simple and elegant ink. At the same time, it reflects the artist’s own open and gentle temperament. Within the same generation of Chinese oil painters, Sanyu was also skilled at using pinks. If Sanyu’s pinks bring forth an air of intoxicating romanticism and nobility, then the pinks in After Bath carry with them a sense of a steadfast innocence and purity, as well as a magnanimity that is all-capacious, containing the entire theatre of mankind In this way, the painting fully showcases the classical language of a generation’s master.
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Guan Hanxing, the artist's son