In the year 1941, Lee Man Fong had his first meeting with the well regarded Chinese master Xu Bei Hong who is noted for his forceful rendition of horses. Before this meeting, both of them had been in correspondence with each other. Man Fong regarded Xu Bei Hong, who was of greater seniority and more established as an artist, to be his mentor, whose advice he constantly sought.
Active from the end of the last century to the beginning of the 20th century, Bei Hong belonged to the group of pioneering Chinese artists who led Chinese painting into the modern era. Although trained in Paris, Bei Hong was nevertheless well versed in the classical training which placed emphasis on the use of brushes and black ink. Bei Hong attained the status of a master painter of horses because he was able to create a 'new breed of painted horse' very different from the masters from the Tang, Yuan and Ming dynasties. The virile eloquence as expressed by Bei Hong's horses is often labeled as his signature style, which Man Fong greatly admired and wished to emulate.
The drawing (Lot 86) which is dated to 1946 is a wonderful rendition of the animal realised with minimal lines but nevertheless revealing a realistic sense of vivacity, much in tune with the style of Bei Hong. Lot 87 Belgium horse and Lot 88 The three horses on the other hand are two renditions of the animal which reveal an individual interpretation.
LEE MAN FONG (China 1913-Indonesia 1988)
Drawing of a horse
Details
LEE MAN FONG (China 1913-Indonesia 1988)
Drawing of a horse
signed and dated "m. f. Lee, 19.4.46" and stamped with the artist's seal
charcoal on paper
13 x 13 in. (33 x 33 cm.)
Drawing of a horse
signed and dated "m. f. Lee, 19.4.46" and stamped with the artist's seal
charcoal on paper
13 x 13 in. (33 x 33 cm.)