LALAN 謝景蘭 | SANS TITRE 無題

Important Private European Collection

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歐洲重要私人收藏

Josiane Rougemont, ed., Lalan, J.M. Beurdeley, Bangkok, 1999, p. 120

Li Lei, ed., Lalan, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai People's Fine Art Publishing, Shanghai, 2009, p. 106

Fragrance of the Mind: A Retrospective of Lalan's Work, Macao Museum of Art, Macau, 2010, p. 101 

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〈LALAN 蘭〉祖斯安・盧治曼編（曼谷，J.M. Beurdeley，一九九九年），120頁

〈謝景蘭〉李磊編（上海，上海人民美術出版社，二〇〇九年），106頁

〈蕙景蘭心－謝景蘭藝術回顧〉（澳門，澳門藝術博物館，二〇一〇年），101頁

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery and signed by Jean-Michel Beurdeley

Braving the Waves and the Unbearable Lightness of Being

Lalan was a unique figure in modern Chinese art in the 20th century. Her art fused music, dance, and painting. She drew upon cultural tradition as a foundation for her work – for example, perpetuating the aesthetics of Song painting. At the same time, clear convictions and bold pursuit of identity drove her to become the full embodiment of a modern Chinese woman, with a career characterized by strong will and independent critical thinking. She carved out new territory for Chinese women in a male-dominated modern art scene. In the mid- to late 1980s, Lalan returned to pure abstraction. Incorporated into her work were the calligraphic lines from the 1950s and 1960s and the refined lyricism of new landscape painting from the 1970s, presenting what could be considered an overview of her past and her creative process. Sans Titre (Lot 1022), offered in this Sale, is one of Lalan’s classic pieces from this period. It has been shown at the Shanghai Art Museum, the Macau Museum of Art, and Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery, and it was chosen for the invitation for her solo show Singing in Colours and Dancing in Ink at Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery. The painting overflows with Lalan’s era-spanning avant-garde spirit, which deeply moved the art world.

In her paintings from this period, Lalan sought out metaphysical art forms, and in expressing these concepts would intermingle ink to a rich visual effect, imbuing the paintings with intense empathy. Complex emotions revealed in nature flow through the painting. The treatment of colour in Sans Titre resembles that of the diptych Les Formes Sortent du Bleu et du Vert (Lot 1023), also offered in this sale. Dominant blue-green tones convey a sense of subdued stability. Disconnected ink lines rise from the bottom of the painting, and randomly splashed dots of ink produce the restless movement of a blithe spirit. The flowing lines form a conceptual space that fuses reality and imagination; the painting is reminiscent of dancing seaweed swaying gently in the endless ocean depths or the dense mists around waterfalls and rivers. Lalan repeatedly depicted visions of water, one of her favoured topics in the final phase of her life. The ocean was her inspiration, located just a few kilometres from her home in Bormes-les-Mimosas in southern France. Ripples extend and linger in the painting – present but elusive, as if to represent a self-awareness just beyond reach. Like memories, these ripples represent deep and complex emotions, moving unconstrained. The piece brings to mind Milan Kundera’s metaphor about the weight of being from The Unbearable Lightness of Being. In this painting, Lalan expresses a philosophical ideas: the invisible constraints in life are presences that transcend life itself; they present a contradiction of being so light they cannot be captured, and at the same time so troubling that they become “heavy as Mount Tai.” If we see this as a metaphysical choice, then that unbearable lightness is essential for realizing true freedom. Once relieved, it becomes light as a feather.

Lao Zi wrote, “The great Dao has no form, the great sound is scarcely voiced.” Lalan’s thinking determined the spirit of her work. She embraced Dao and as a confident and independent being shrugged off the manmade constraints of geography, race, or gender. She expressed herself fully in her art, tirelessly extending her explorations into inner worlds and philosophical realms. She made an important contribution to the development of modern art history, and Sans Titre conveys Lalan’s nearly half-century of avant-garde artistic practice. Sans Titre, offered in this sale, is the perfect representation of resolute self-knowledge and Lalan’s unique talent, and it is an excellent choice for collectors wanting to explore the creative trajectory and life of this dynamic woman artist.

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附：季豐軒開立並由Jean-Michel Beurdeley親簽之作品保證書

破浪行吟，生命不可承受之輕

謝景蘭在二十世紀華人現代藝術領域中，是一個獨一無二的存在。她的藝術融匯音樂、舞蹈與繪畫於一體，一方面以自身文化本源為創作根基，傳承宋畫之美學，另一方面以自身明確的文化信念與對自我的大膽追求，完整地闡述了一位華人女藝術家貫穿其藝術生涯的獨立思辨能力及堅強意志，在以男性藝術家為主導的現代藝術殿堂，勾勒出屬於華人女性的半壁江山。謝景蘭八〇年代中後期再次回歸純抽象創作，結合五、六〇年代的書法性線條與七〇年代的新山水風景畫中的細膩柔情，是藝術家對於過往歲月及創作歷程的回顧與高度總結。是次晚拍呈獻的《無題》（拍品編號1022）作為藝術家此時期的經典代表之作，先後於上海美術館、澳門藝術博物館及香港季豐軒畫廊作為重點展品展出，更被選作季豐軒〈吟色舞墨〉個展之邀請函封面與封底，畫中滿載這位女藝術家跨時代之先鋒精神，藝術界都為之撼動。

「在面料精製色彩柔和的背景上，躍入眼簾的是斷斷續續的黑色線條，一顆神秘的星星閃爍著溫柔不定的光芒，我把別的一切都置之於腦後，只想讓自己走進這首永恆的是各種，這首昨天的，今天的，我希望也將會是明天的詩歌。」

戰後巴黎著名畫廊主，杜布菲（Dubuffet）、米修（Michaux）等畫家經紀人勒內·德孿（Rene Drouin），1990年於Pierre Cardin展廳舉辦的Lalan畫展之圖錄撰文 《躇立於謝景蘭畫前》節錄

正如勒內所言，謝景蘭此階段的畫作追求一種形而上的藝術形態，常以墨色交織，營造豐沛的視覺效果，予以畫面極強的共情能力，自然流露的複雜情緒引人入畫。《無題》中，對色彩的處理呼應同場亮相之雙聯作《從藍綠中產生的形象》（拍品編號1023），青藍色主色調予人以沉鬱且安定之感；間斷綿延的墨線由下而上，伴隨肆意潑灑的墨點，輕盈而自由地萌生出生命的躁動之意，行筆之間塑造了一個現實與想像融合的臆想空間，彷彿無盡海底深處搖曳起舞之藤蔓，亦似瀑布川流生起的氤氳水霧。藝術家作品中反復描繪的水之意象，是其生命最後時光中最鍾情的主題之一，靈感源自距離南法金合歡鎮住宅僅幾公里之遙的大海。畫中蔓延縈繞的似乎是真實存在卻難以捕捉的水紋，確又更像是藝術家無形的自我意識，如同往昔的記憶，亦似動盪而複雜的心緒，無拘束地飄搖，令人聯想到米蘭·昆德拉在小說《生命不可承受之輕》中對生命之輕重的隱喻。謝景蘭於本畫中向世人闡明她對生命意義的哲學思考：生命中無形的羈絆，是一種超越生命本身的存在，它們輕到無法捕捉，卻能重如泰山擾人心緒，若將之視為形而上的一種取捨，這些不可承受之輕正是實現真正自由的要素，一旦釋然則輕如鴻毛。

老子有言：「大道無形，大音希聲」，正所謂思想決定畫作之精神面貌，謝景蘭胸懷大道，自信獨立，不受地理、種族和性別的約束，堅持藝術創作的自我表達，不倦地將藝術探索延伸至內心思哲的探討，為近現代藝術史的發展進程呈現了舉足輕重的貢獻。《無題》承載著藝術家跨越近半個世紀的先鋒藝術實踐，見證其不斷超越心理的局限，如今亮相拍場，是其堅定不移的自我認知及個人才情之巔峰的完美呈現，亦是藏家探究這位鮮活靈動的女藝術家創作軌跡與人生信念的不二之選。