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FROM THE FANG ZHAOLING FAMILY COLLECTION (LOTS 1034-1036)
FANG ZHAOLING (1914-2006)
Harmony
Details
FANG ZHAOLING (1914-2006)
Harmony
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
68 x 136.5 cm. (26 3⁄4 x 53 3⁄4 in.)
Inscribed and signed, with three seals of the artist
Dated New Year’s Day, 1989
Harmony
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
68 x 136.5 cm. (26 3⁄4 x 53 3⁄4 in.)
Inscribed and signed, with three seals of the artist
Dated New Year’s Day, 1989
Provenance
From the artist’s family collection.
Further details
Fang Zhaoling was born to an affluent, open-minded family in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, and was among the growing minority of well-educated women in 1910s China. In 1937 she left China for the United Kingdom to study European Modern History at the University of Manchester, becoming the first Chinese female student at the institution. After years of unsettledness during the war, she, her husband and her children relocated to Hong Kong in 1948.
Unlike many of her female peers who stepped into the art world with the assistance of family members, Fang’s journey as an artist was guided by a series of prominent painters. She first received training from Chen Jiucun and Qian Songyan in Shanghai; while in Hong Kong she learned under Lu Xinnong and Zhao Shao’ang who opened her doors to the Lingnan School. In 1953, she later became a student of Zhang Daqian. Yet Fang was not satisfied by being a follower of male masters—her ambition and relentless exploration carried her far beyond what she was taught. The following group of works, spanning three decades and treasured by Fang’s descendants and friends, perfectly embodies the artist’s evolvement towards a highly expressive and liberated style. By embracing brawny crudeness and joyous naivety, Fang illuminated an unprecedented path as a female artist.
Ink Lotus (Lot 1032), created in 1962, illustrates a pivotal turn from her emergence in the Lingnan School tradition towards increasingly bold compositions and brushwork. The visual resemblance between this painting and Ink Lotus (Lot 1124) created by her mentor Zhang Daqian in the following year foreshadowed the profound influence the charismatic master would continue to have on Fang’s artistic career.
In the 1970s, Fang went to Carmel, California, studying under Zhang Daqian for a year and then travelled extensively in mainland China. The powerful Calligraphy (Lot 1033), which transcribes a well-known poem Gazing at the Mountain by Du Fu, shares her experience of the magnificent landscape she saw in California and further inspires her to take on the landscape as her favourite subject matter.
Fang painted Joy of the Morning (Lot 1034) in the early 1980s with calligraphic strokes depicting pine branches and a series of curvy lines conveying hills demonstrate intentional awkwardness and naivety inspired by Shi Tao and Qi Baishi’s work. She further exaggerates such style in Harmony (Lot 1035), using bright palettes and carefully textured paper surfaces to imbue the mountains and rocks with intense energy. Meanwhile, the peasants in colourful apparel, clumsy postures and vivid facial expressions bring earthy joy to the otherwise ethereal landscapes. Fang’s rustic, humourous and self-introspective paintings reach the height of her artistic achievement during this period, with many of her most renowned works produced in the mid to late 1980s.
Memories of Guilin (Lot 1036) was created in the last and most experimental decade of Fang’s life, during which she transcended stylistic concerns and painted with total freedom. Her playful spirit is fully displayed here with the fluid, cursive strokes depicting the river and the doodle-like rocks and trees. Yet her artistic talent still shines through the picturesque composition, the radiating washes of paint and the lively figuration of fishermen. The unique and sincere visual language Fang presented in this painting melds the highest values of Chinese art tradition and the zeitgeist of the 20th century, transmuting turbulence and bitterness in her life into art that transcends gender, time and culture.
Unlike many of her female peers who stepped into the art world with the assistance of family members, Fang’s journey as an artist was guided by a series of prominent painters. She first received training from Chen Jiucun and Qian Songyan in Shanghai; while in Hong Kong she learned under Lu Xinnong and Zhao Shao’ang who opened her doors to the Lingnan School. In 1953, she later became a student of Zhang Daqian. Yet Fang was not satisfied by being a follower of male masters—her ambition and relentless exploration carried her far beyond what she was taught. The following group of works, spanning three decades and treasured by Fang’s descendants and friends, perfectly embodies the artist’s evolvement towards a highly expressive and liberated style. By embracing brawny crudeness and joyous naivety, Fang illuminated an unprecedented path as a female artist.
Ink Lotus (Lot 1032), created in 1962, illustrates a pivotal turn from her emergence in the Lingnan School tradition towards increasingly bold compositions and brushwork. The visual resemblance between this painting and Ink Lotus (Lot 1124) created by her mentor Zhang Daqian in the following year foreshadowed the profound influence the charismatic master would continue to have on Fang’s artistic career.
In the 1970s, Fang went to Carmel, California, studying under Zhang Daqian for a year and then travelled extensively in mainland China. The powerful Calligraphy (Lot 1033), which transcribes a well-known poem Gazing at the Mountain by Du Fu, shares her experience of the magnificent landscape she saw in California and further inspires her to take on the landscape as her favourite subject matter.
Fang painted Joy of the Morning (Lot 1034) in the early 1980s with calligraphic strokes depicting pine branches and a series of curvy lines conveying hills demonstrate intentional awkwardness and naivety inspired by Shi Tao and Qi Baishi’s work. She further exaggerates such style in Harmony (Lot 1035), using bright palettes and carefully textured paper surfaces to imbue the mountains and rocks with intense energy. Meanwhile, the peasants in colourful apparel, clumsy postures and vivid facial expressions bring earthy joy to the otherwise ethereal landscapes. Fang’s rustic, humourous and self-introspective paintings reach the height of her artistic achievement during this period, with many of her most renowned works produced in the mid to late 1980s.
Memories of Guilin (Lot 1036) was created in the last and most experimental decade of Fang’s life, during which she transcended stylistic concerns and painted with total freedom. Her playful spirit is fully displayed here with the fluid, cursive strokes depicting the river and the doodle-like rocks and trees. Yet her artistic talent still shines through the picturesque composition, the radiating washes of paint and the lively figuration of fishermen. The unique and sincere visual language Fang presented in this painting melds the highest values of Chinese art tradition and the zeitgeist of the 20th century, transmuting turbulence and bitterness in her life into art that transcends gender, time and culture.
Brought to you by
Carmen Shek Cerne (石嘉雯)
Vice President, Head of Department, Chinese Paintings