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Lot Essay
"The impressive attempt of the Moon landings enabled Liu a completely new vision to view human existence in the world. His work symbolizes the modern conquest and driving forces of nature." - Lee Chunyi
Liu Kuo-Song is a renowned modern Chinese painter who revolutionarised the realms of Chinese contemporary ink painting. Liu's works synthesize the unique essences of the East and the West, while his innovative and creative techniques enabled him to characterise a new and distinctive discourse. His works were thus once described by art critic John Canaday as "a dashing exponent of traditional Chinese landscape painting hybridized with modern abstraction."
Moon's Metamorphosis No. 75 is a painting that demonstrates Liu's artistic competency and creativity. He created the work in the early 1970s, and is part of his Space Series in which he was inspired by the Apollo missions and Moon landings between the late 1960s and 1970s. This series helped confirm his position in the contemporary art scene. With its bright and fiery orange, the moon at the centre of the composition presents an abstract yet powerful motif with warmth and radiance. Liu uses the method of collage to depict the moon, composing a beautiful gradation of colours potently conveying the idea of transformation and metamorphosis; while the textured ground in the lower half of the work suggests the surface of the Earth, as if capturing a magnificent and sublime spectacle. Liu meticulously fabricated the rough and uneven surface by pulling the coarse fibres in the paper, resembling the energetic brushwork and gesture of Chinese calligraphy, forming a layered sensory experience.
As a Chinese artist, Liu was also deeply influenced by Chinese culture, as the bright red circle also appears like globular lanterns that hang from the eaves of Chinese temple. Moon's Metamorphosis No. 75 is a remarkable mature work of the Space Series that crosses the boundary between the East and the West, encapsulating Liu's creative mind at the time.
Liu Kuo-Song is a renowned modern Chinese painter who revolutionarised the realms of Chinese contemporary ink painting. Liu's works synthesize the unique essences of the East and the West, while his innovative and creative techniques enabled him to characterise a new and distinctive discourse. His works were thus once described by art critic John Canaday as "a dashing exponent of traditional Chinese landscape painting hybridized with modern abstraction."
Moon's Metamorphosis No. 75 is a painting that demonstrates Liu's artistic competency and creativity. He created the work in the early 1970s, and is part of his Space Series in which he was inspired by the Apollo missions and Moon landings between the late 1960s and 1970s. This series helped confirm his position in the contemporary art scene. With its bright and fiery orange, the moon at the centre of the composition presents an abstract yet powerful motif with warmth and radiance. Liu uses the method of collage to depict the moon, composing a beautiful gradation of colours potently conveying the idea of transformation and metamorphosis; while the textured ground in the lower half of the work suggests the surface of the Earth, as if capturing a magnificent and sublime spectacle. Liu meticulously fabricated the rough and uneven surface by pulling the coarse fibres in the paper, resembling the energetic brushwork and gesture of Chinese calligraphy, forming a layered sensory experience.
As a Chinese artist, Liu was also deeply influenced by Chinese culture, as the bright red circle also appears like globular lanterns that hang from the eaves of Chinese temple. Moon's Metamorphosis No. 75 is a remarkable mature work of the Space Series that crosses the boundary between the East and the West, encapsulating Liu's creative mind at the time.