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Lot Essay
'The paintings of Sanyu express love, loneliness, and remembrance of his distant homeland... He gave his soul, serenely wandering through life, to the flowers, the female forms, and the fish and leopards in his paintings.' —Robert Frank
A white horse gently bends one foreleg, leaning forward on a golden carpet adorned with auspicious fu-lu patterns. It bows its head with quiet grace, extending a gesture of respect and blessing to the viewer. Cheval s’agenouillant sur un tapis (Kneeling Horse on Carpet), painted in the 1950s-1960s, is one of Sanyu’s exceptionally rare masterpieces devoted to the themes of the kneeling horse and the circus. According to the most recently published catalogue raisonné of the artist, Sanyu: His Life and Complete Works in Oil, he produced a total of 34 works centred on the horse, nine of which feature the circus; one of these is now held by the National Museum of History in Taipei. Of the works combining horses with carpets patterned with the symbols of fu, lu and shou, only two are known, including this painting. Of these, only one remains extant, while the other’s whereabouts are unknown, making this work extraordinarily rare. The horse kneels on one foreleg — a posture commonly seen in circus performances and known as a compliment — resembling a bow or a salute. The artist had a deep affection for the horse: his father was renowned for painting horses, and even his former wife Marcelle’s Chinese surname begins with ‘Ma’, making the horse an interwoven symbol of filial bond, romantic love, and memory in his life. In this work, the white horse performing a compliment may be a projection of the artist himself, emblematic of his solitary striving on the grand stage of Paris. With the successive presentation of two major institutional exhibitions — ‘The Elsewhere of Other’ (2024) at the National Museum of History and ‘SANYU’ (2025–2026) at the Fubon Art Museum — Sanyu’s artistic influence continues to gain momentum both locally and internationally.
The present painting was acquired directly from the artist by the Lévy family and has been treasured in their collection across generations. It now makes its debut at auction. During the 1950s and 1960s, members of the family maintained close ties with the artist, offering him continuous support in his personal life, emotional well-being and creative practice. Several of Sanyu’s highest-selling auction works also come from this distinguished collection. In December 1965, the Lévy family generously offered their villa in Montparnasse to host Sanyu’s final solo exhibition during his lifetime, marking the culmination of his lifelong artistic achievements. The exhibition not only encapsulated the heart of Sanyu’s late oeuvre, but also brought together fellow Chinese artists living in France — including Pan Yuliang, Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun — who came to view the works and share in the occasion.
Seen against the historical context of its creation, the emotional gravity of this work becomes all the more palpable. In the early 1940s, as war in Europe intensified, painting materials became scarce and difficult to obtain. At the same time, financial assistance from his family in China gradually ceased, and years of slow sales took their toll, leaving Sanyu in precarious circumstances. He could only afford less expensive plaster, and the horse became a frequent subject in his sculptures.
Financial hardship placed him face to face with life’s harsh realities; the solitude and resilience of his creative practice quietly seeped into the themes of his work. Sanyu often placed animals within landscapes suffused with a particular atmosphere, or in vast, barren plains — the expansive settings juxtaposed with the small, solitary animals create a striking contrast, evoking a deep sense of desolation. These compositions are frequently interpreted as monologues and projections of the artist’s inner world. He once painted a tiny elephant running across an endless desert. Pointing at the elephant in the painting, he laughed and said to a friend, ‘That is me.’
Viewed in this light, we return to Kneeling Horse on Carpet, whose theatrical treatment of space carries a symbolic cadence. The work carries a hint of the artist’s self-projection: the white horse, in a graceful compliment, stands upon a golden, richly patterned carpet, as if at the centre of the spotlight, with the viewer naturally placed in the role of an audience member. The carpet is presented almost parallel with eye level, while the horse appears viewed from above, creating an intriguing dislocation of perspective within the same plane, giving the viewer the feeling of being in an amphitheatre. The white horse and golden carpet come to life in the interplay of light and shadow, as if they were performers taking the stage alone. The deep burgundy background radiates outward, guiding the viewer’s eye towards a distant horizon, so that the painting mediates grandeur and solitude, conveying a subdued yet intense sense of drama. This expansive handling of space echoes the Chinese aesthetic ideal of ‘expressing the infinite within the finite’ — unfolding a boundless realm within a limited canvas, shifting from the depiction of actual scenes to a spiritual dimension, extending from space into time, embodying an Eastern conception of the universe.
In his use of colour, Sanyu employs crimson and bright yellow as the painting’s primary background colours, creating a visual language rich in Chinese cultural symbolism. Crimson symbolizes celebration, elegance, and serenity; yellow, historically reserved for the emperor, recalls the red walls and yellow roofs of temples and palaces, symbolizing authority, auspiciousness, and solemnity. Rather than adhering to any formal colour theories, Sanyu draws on instinct and a daring cultural fusion, blending colours from different regions into an ideal world of light and harmony. Through the interplay of crimson and bright yellow, the work explores modern subjects while simultaneously expressing an Eastern spirit and cultural resonance.
In circus performance, the compliment is a classic and commonly seen movement. The horse bends one knee at command, adopting an elegant, bow-like posture. Sanyu’s white horse performs this gesture in salute to the audience, bringing a ceremonial and theatrical quality to the painting. In a broader cultural context, the theme echoes China’s long and rich circus tradition. Chinese circus can be traced back to the Han dynasty Bai Xi (‘Hundred Entertainments’), renowned especially for horseback acrobatics, including vaulting, standing, ball-treading, and stationary maneuvers.
From the Impressionist era onwards, the circus became a recurring subject in modern art. As artists began to depict urban leisure and popular entertainment, the circus emerged as a subject that was both lively and theatrical. From Georges Seurat’s Neo-Impressionist works, which retained classical compositional structures, to Marc Chagall’s fantastical, floating circus scenes, circus imagery in Western modern art continued to evolve, acquiring associations with dreams, fables, and enchantment. Within this artistic lineage, Sanyu’s circus imagery reflects his distinctive East-West synthesis. With succinct ink lines and expressive brushwork, he delineates the horse beneath the spotlight. The image resonates with the formal vocabulary and theatrical sensibility of Western modernism, while incorporating the restrained lines and aesthetic of blank space rooted in the Eastern calligraphic tradition. The circus is no longer simply a scene of urban entertainment, but also a symbol of cross-cultural convergence. By merging Western circus imagery with the spirit of Eastern brushwork, Sanyu’s horse transcends the spectacle of the circus, radiating a quiet, spiritual elegance.
Carpets adorned with auspicious motifs were among Sanyu’s favourite subjects. Among his more than three hundred oil paintings, over 26 feature carpets as a prominent visual element. Their distinct flatness, decorative quality, and rhythmic patterning serve as a compositional anchor for his unique pictorial language. Bathed in bright light, the golden carpet in this painting displays three traditional motifs rich in Eastern philosophical meaning: the longevity pattern, symbolizing enduring life and blessings; the coin pattern, representing prosperity and good fortune; and the interlaced endless-knot pattern, signifying continuity and ceaseless vitality. Long regarded as emblems of auspiciousness, these decorative patterns lie beneath the horse’s feet as blessings, imbuing the composition with cultural depth — an image that was at once solemn, refined, and resonant with a sense of renewal and abundance.
Amid these symbols of joy and good fortune, one can also glimpse the artist’s yearning for home after years in Paris. Through familiar Eastern motifs, he quietly built a spiritual refuge on canvases in a foreign land, instilling deeper cultural essence into the modern composition.
Against the shifting circumstances of the postwar period, Sanyu’s works endured a fate as itinerant as the horse in this painting: some remained in Paris, some were collected by friends, and others were dispersed. The painting Horse, which Sanyu gifted to Pan Yuliang, travelled back to China in 1984 together with over four thousand works from her estate and is now housed in the National Art Museum of China. The animal imagery, symbolic of the artist’s inner self, ultimately returned, in poetic fashion, to its cultural roots, serving both as an extension of the artist’s identity and as a testament to his cross-cultural vision.
A white horse gently bends one foreleg, leaning forward on a golden carpet adorned with auspicious fu-lu patterns. It bows its head with quiet grace, extending a gesture of respect and blessing to the viewer. Cheval s’agenouillant sur un tapis (Kneeling Horse on Carpet), painted in the 1950s-1960s, is one of Sanyu’s exceptionally rare masterpieces devoted to the themes of the kneeling horse and the circus. According to the most recently published catalogue raisonné of the artist, Sanyu: His Life and Complete Works in Oil, he produced a total of 34 works centred on the horse, nine of which feature the circus; one of these is now held by the National Museum of History in Taipei. Of the works combining horses with carpets patterned with the symbols of fu, lu and shou, only two are known, including this painting. Of these, only one remains extant, while the other’s whereabouts are unknown, making this work extraordinarily rare. The horse kneels on one foreleg — a posture commonly seen in circus performances and known as a compliment — resembling a bow or a salute. The artist had a deep affection for the horse: his father was renowned for painting horses, and even his former wife Marcelle’s Chinese surname begins with ‘Ma’, making the horse an interwoven symbol of filial bond, romantic love, and memory in his life. In this work, the white horse performing a compliment may be a projection of the artist himself, emblematic of his solitary striving on the grand stage of Paris. With the successive presentation of two major institutional exhibitions — ‘The Elsewhere of Other’ (2024) at the National Museum of History and ‘SANYU’ (2025–2026) at the Fubon Art Museum — Sanyu’s artistic influence continues to gain momentum both locally and internationally.
The present painting was acquired directly from the artist by the Lévy family and has been treasured in their collection across generations. It now makes its debut at auction. During the 1950s and 1960s, members of the family maintained close ties with the artist, offering him continuous support in his personal life, emotional well-being and creative practice. Several of Sanyu’s highest-selling auction works also come from this distinguished collection. In December 1965, the Lévy family generously offered their villa in Montparnasse to host Sanyu’s final solo exhibition during his lifetime, marking the culmination of his lifelong artistic achievements. The exhibition not only encapsulated the heart of Sanyu’s late oeuvre, but also brought together fellow Chinese artists living in France — including Pan Yuliang, Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun — who came to view the works and share in the occasion.
Seen against the historical context of its creation, the emotional gravity of this work becomes all the more palpable. In the early 1940s, as war in Europe intensified, painting materials became scarce and difficult to obtain. At the same time, financial assistance from his family in China gradually ceased, and years of slow sales took their toll, leaving Sanyu in precarious circumstances. He could only afford less expensive plaster, and the horse became a frequent subject in his sculptures.
Financial hardship placed him face to face with life’s harsh realities; the solitude and resilience of his creative practice quietly seeped into the themes of his work. Sanyu often placed animals within landscapes suffused with a particular atmosphere, or in vast, barren plains — the expansive settings juxtaposed with the small, solitary animals create a striking contrast, evoking a deep sense of desolation. These compositions are frequently interpreted as monologues and projections of the artist’s inner world. He once painted a tiny elephant running across an endless desert. Pointing at the elephant in the painting, he laughed and said to a friend, ‘That is me.’
Viewed in this light, we return to Kneeling Horse on Carpet, whose theatrical treatment of space carries a symbolic cadence. The work carries a hint of the artist’s self-projection: the white horse, in a graceful compliment, stands upon a golden, richly patterned carpet, as if at the centre of the spotlight, with the viewer naturally placed in the role of an audience member. The carpet is presented almost parallel with eye level, while the horse appears viewed from above, creating an intriguing dislocation of perspective within the same plane, giving the viewer the feeling of being in an amphitheatre. The white horse and golden carpet come to life in the interplay of light and shadow, as if they were performers taking the stage alone. The deep burgundy background radiates outward, guiding the viewer’s eye towards a distant horizon, so that the painting mediates grandeur and solitude, conveying a subdued yet intense sense of drama. This expansive handling of space echoes the Chinese aesthetic ideal of ‘expressing the infinite within the finite’ — unfolding a boundless realm within a limited canvas, shifting from the depiction of actual scenes to a spiritual dimension, extending from space into time, embodying an Eastern conception of the universe.
In his use of colour, Sanyu employs crimson and bright yellow as the painting’s primary background colours, creating a visual language rich in Chinese cultural symbolism. Crimson symbolizes celebration, elegance, and serenity; yellow, historically reserved for the emperor, recalls the red walls and yellow roofs of temples and palaces, symbolizing authority, auspiciousness, and solemnity. Rather than adhering to any formal colour theories, Sanyu draws on instinct and a daring cultural fusion, blending colours from different regions into an ideal world of light and harmony. Through the interplay of crimson and bright yellow, the work explores modern subjects while simultaneously expressing an Eastern spirit and cultural resonance.
In circus performance, the compliment is a classic and commonly seen movement. The horse bends one knee at command, adopting an elegant, bow-like posture. Sanyu’s white horse performs this gesture in salute to the audience, bringing a ceremonial and theatrical quality to the painting. In a broader cultural context, the theme echoes China’s long and rich circus tradition. Chinese circus can be traced back to the Han dynasty Bai Xi (‘Hundred Entertainments’), renowned especially for horseback acrobatics, including vaulting, standing, ball-treading, and stationary maneuvers.
From the Impressionist era onwards, the circus became a recurring subject in modern art. As artists began to depict urban leisure and popular entertainment, the circus emerged as a subject that was both lively and theatrical. From Georges Seurat’s Neo-Impressionist works, which retained classical compositional structures, to Marc Chagall’s fantastical, floating circus scenes, circus imagery in Western modern art continued to evolve, acquiring associations with dreams, fables, and enchantment. Within this artistic lineage, Sanyu’s circus imagery reflects his distinctive East-West synthesis. With succinct ink lines and expressive brushwork, he delineates the horse beneath the spotlight. The image resonates with the formal vocabulary and theatrical sensibility of Western modernism, while incorporating the restrained lines and aesthetic of blank space rooted in the Eastern calligraphic tradition. The circus is no longer simply a scene of urban entertainment, but also a symbol of cross-cultural convergence. By merging Western circus imagery with the spirit of Eastern brushwork, Sanyu’s horse transcends the spectacle of the circus, radiating a quiet, spiritual elegance.
Carpets adorned with auspicious motifs were among Sanyu’s favourite subjects. Among his more than three hundred oil paintings, over 26 feature carpets as a prominent visual element. Their distinct flatness, decorative quality, and rhythmic patterning serve as a compositional anchor for his unique pictorial language. Bathed in bright light, the golden carpet in this painting displays three traditional motifs rich in Eastern philosophical meaning: the longevity pattern, symbolizing enduring life and blessings; the coin pattern, representing prosperity and good fortune; and the interlaced endless-knot pattern, signifying continuity and ceaseless vitality. Long regarded as emblems of auspiciousness, these decorative patterns lie beneath the horse’s feet as blessings, imbuing the composition with cultural depth — an image that was at once solemn, refined, and resonant with a sense of renewal and abundance.
Amid these symbols of joy and good fortune, one can also glimpse the artist’s yearning for home after years in Paris. Through familiar Eastern motifs, he quietly built a spiritual refuge on canvases in a foreign land, instilling deeper cultural essence into the modern composition.
Against the shifting circumstances of the postwar period, Sanyu’s works endured a fate as itinerant as the horse in this painting: some remained in Paris, some were collected by friends, and others were dispersed. The painting Horse, which Sanyu gifted to Pan Yuliang, travelled back to China in 1984 together with over four thousand works from her estate and is now housed in the National Art Museum of China. The animal imagery, symbolic of the artist’s inner self, ultimately returned, in poetic fashion, to its cultural roots, serving both as an extension of the artist’s identity and as a testament to his cross-cultural vision.