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Lot Essay
The original owner of this painting was a French national who resided in Shanghai from 1941 to 1946 and again from late 1948 to 1952. He held a managerial position with the Shanghai French Tramways and Electric Lighting Company. During his years in Shanghai, he was introduced to Lin Fengmian through a Swiss friend and subsequently acquired numerous works directly from the artist’s studio. Following his return to France, these paintings adorned his Paris residence for many decades and have remained in the family collection to this day. According to the family’s recollection, the present lot came to the family collection in the early 1950s.
In 1951, Lin Fengmian left Hangzhou for Shanghai, where he spent some fifteen peaceful years before the Cultural Revolution. On the advice of his close friend Guan Liang, Lin watched many operas during this period. Various classic opera titles appear in Lin’s oeuvre in the 1950s, among the ones often seen include The Legend of the White Snake, Farewell My Concubine and the Lotus Lantern. The present work, Opera Figures - A Fisherman Kills a Family, is a celebrated episode from the traditional Chinese opera The Qing Ding Pearl. It tells the story of a poor fisherman and his daughter who rise up against corruption and oppression. The protagonist, Xiao En, traditionally identified as the retired Water Margin hero Ruan Xiaoqi, earns a modest living as a fisherman. When the local tyrant Squire Ding imposes an unjust fishing tax on impoverished fishermen, Xiao En defies the levy and confronts Ding’s tax collectors, leading to his arrest and brutal beating. Humiliated and driven to desperation, Xiao En and his daughter resolve to seek revenge. They secretly infiltrate Ding’s mansion, with Xiao’s daughter disguising herself as a noblewoman by wearing the treasured Qing Ding Pearl. Once inside, father and daughter confront the tyrant and slaughter Squire Ding and his household, avenging the injustices they have suffered.
Amid a dynamic interplay of geometric forms and blocks of colour, the tightly packed composition reveals four opera figures. Dominating the foreground are two vividly dressed protagonists: Xiao En, the fisherman, depicted at the centre with a long white beard and bright yellow robe, and his pious daughter, who stands to his right dressed in emerald green. Behind them appear two antagonistic figures rendered in more subdued tones and stylized, mask-like features, representing the tax collectors against whom Xiao En and his daughter seek revenge. The father and daughter cross their weapons in the foreground, creating a powerful network of diagonals that imbues the composition with a palpable sense of tension and movement, suggesting the climactic moment before they exact their revenge. Lin Fengmian employs a harmonious palette of jade green, pale blue, ochre, white, black, and deep plum to accentuate the protagonists, while the cool grey background is enlivened by a luminous streak of yellow evocative of theatrical stage lighting. Rich in colour, drama, energy, and emotional intensity, the composition captures the visual spectacle of Chinese opera through Lin Fengmian’s bold modernist vision.
In 1951, Lin Fengmian left Hangzhou for Shanghai, where he spent some fifteen peaceful years before the Cultural Revolution. On the advice of his close friend Guan Liang, Lin watched many operas during this period. Various classic opera titles appear in Lin’s oeuvre in the 1950s, among the ones often seen include The Legend of the White Snake, Farewell My Concubine and the Lotus Lantern. The present work, Opera Figures - A Fisherman Kills a Family, is a celebrated episode from the traditional Chinese opera The Qing Ding Pearl. It tells the story of a poor fisherman and his daughter who rise up against corruption and oppression. The protagonist, Xiao En, traditionally identified as the retired Water Margin hero Ruan Xiaoqi, earns a modest living as a fisherman. When the local tyrant Squire Ding imposes an unjust fishing tax on impoverished fishermen, Xiao En defies the levy and confronts Ding’s tax collectors, leading to his arrest and brutal beating. Humiliated and driven to desperation, Xiao En and his daughter resolve to seek revenge. They secretly infiltrate Ding’s mansion, with Xiao’s daughter disguising herself as a noblewoman by wearing the treasured Qing Ding Pearl. Once inside, father and daughter confront the tyrant and slaughter Squire Ding and his household, avenging the injustices they have suffered.
Amid a dynamic interplay of geometric forms and blocks of colour, the tightly packed composition reveals four opera figures. Dominating the foreground are two vividly dressed protagonists: Xiao En, the fisherman, depicted at the centre with a long white beard and bright yellow robe, and his pious daughter, who stands to his right dressed in emerald green. Behind them appear two antagonistic figures rendered in more subdued tones and stylized, mask-like features, representing the tax collectors against whom Xiao En and his daughter seek revenge. The father and daughter cross their weapons in the foreground, creating a powerful network of diagonals that imbues the composition with a palpable sense of tension and movement, suggesting the climactic moment before they exact their revenge. Lin Fengmian employs a harmonious palette of jade green, pale blue, ochre, white, black, and deep plum to accentuate the protagonists, while the cool grey background is enlivened by a luminous streak of yellow evocative of theatrical stage lighting. Rich in colour, drama, energy, and emotional intensity, the composition captures the visual spectacle of Chinese opera through Lin Fengmian’s bold modernist vision.