LOTS 859-863MR. & MRS. ROBERT PECKAR COLLECTION, NEW JERSEY, USAMaxine and Bob Peckar travelled to Asia for the first time in 1983. While in Hong Kong they were introduced to Hugh and Blossom Moss through a common friend. During that visit, the Peckars' eyes were opened to the visual excitement of contemporary and ancient Chinese brush paintings, a departure from Western contemporary art they had been collecting. Through the Chinese art history writing by James Cahill and the guidance of Moss, they began to acquire contemporary ink works in their many subsequent trips to Asia, some of which are offered in the following lots.

LIU KUO-SUNG (LIU GUOSONG, B. 1932)

The Many-Faced Mountain

Details

LIU KUO-SUNG (LIU GUOSONG, B. 1932)
The Many-Faced Mountain
Scroll, mounted and framed
Ink and colour on paper
119.5 x 77.8 cm. (47 x 30 5/8 in.)
Executed in 1979
Titleslip inscribed by the artist

Further details

A keen innovator in materials and methods in ink painting in the twentieth century, Liu Kuo-sung has long sought to experiment with ways to do with the paintbrush. Inspired by spontaneous, semi-autonomous techniques traditionally used by Chinese artists such as the splashed ink painting, Liu began working with the water rubbing in the 1970s, which captures the delicate marbling effect created by the unpredictable flow of pigment on water: ink and pigment are first splashed onto the water surface, before a layer of paper is placed on top for the patterns to be transferred. Executed in 1979, The Many-Faced Mountain is one of the finest examples of Liu’s water rubbing oeuvre. Viewed from different perspectives and reconstructed by collage, the body of the mountain, is here complemented with abstract, calligraphic brushstrokes deftly executed in addition to Liu’s unique fibre peeling process, creating a captivating image with vibrant beauty.

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Angelina Li

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