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Lot Essay
Shiy De-Jinn drew on the power of his emotions to create his art. In 1943 he entered the Sichuan National Art Institute, where he studied under Lin Fengmian. Lin was the force that drove Shiy De-Jinn to embark on his artistic career. Shiy's approach to art was to use his vitality to feel all things and then transform them into art with his brush. Shiy's artistic career can be divided into several stages, and in each of them, the things he experienced and the influence that other artists (both older and contemporary) had on him became the turning point or key that led him into the next stage.
Speaking of the influence Lin Fengmian had on him, Shiy said, "He taught me how to use line to express the essence of a thing and to refrain from depicting light and shadow, for light and shadow are the outward appearance; you have to seize the essential part of a thing, its enduring essence. Draw boldly; pursue your own style."
In 1955, spurred by his contact with the members of the Oriental Painting Society, Shiy De-Jinn took up abstract painting. Even as Taiwan immersed itself in Western-style painting, a part of the local art community began to approach abstract art from the perspective of Chinese painting. And so Shiy took up abstract painting, a pursuit he continued until 1963. His abstract works are relatively few; Abstraction (Lot 3346), a four-panel screen done in 1961, is one of the larger examples and a rare gem. In it, Shiy makes the colors push and pull one another to create the artistic form he desires in a manner reminiscent of the great abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann's "push and pull" theory. However, compared to Hofmann's The Ocean (Fig 1), Shiy's work adds an extra dash of Eastern Zen. With gold-flecked paper as background, the empty spaces recall the flavor of Southern Song painting, while the use of gold foil symbolizes traditional Taiwanese folk art. After 1963, Shiy De-Jinn incorporated abstraction into his portrait paintings, often using abstract art as background for the figure(s) in the portrait. Thus, this Abstraction is an invaluable record of Shiy De-Jinn's progression as an artist.
Speaking of the influence Lin Fengmian had on him, Shiy said, "He taught me how to use line to express the essence of a thing and to refrain from depicting light and shadow, for light and shadow are the outward appearance; you have to seize the essential part of a thing, its enduring essence. Draw boldly; pursue your own style."
In 1955, spurred by his contact with the members of the Oriental Painting Society, Shiy De-Jinn took up abstract painting. Even as Taiwan immersed itself in Western-style painting, a part of the local art community began to approach abstract art from the perspective of Chinese painting. And so Shiy took up abstract painting, a pursuit he continued until 1963. His abstract works are relatively few; Abstraction (Lot 3346), a four-panel screen done in 1961, is one of the larger examples and a rare gem. In it, Shiy makes the colors push and pull one another to create the artistic form he desires in a manner reminiscent of the great abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann's "push and pull" theory. However, compared to Hofmann's The Ocean (Fig 1), Shiy's work adds an extra dash of Eastern Zen. With gold-flecked paper as background, the empty spaces recall the flavor of Southern Song painting, while the use of gold foil symbolizes traditional Taiwanese folk art. After 1963, Shiy De-Jinn incorporated abstraction into his portrait paintings, often using abstract art as background for the figure(s) in the portrait. Thus, this Abstraction is an invaluable record of Shiy De-Jinn's progression as an artist.