Offerings (ii)

Sha Qi was born in Sha Village, Yin County, Zhejiang Province. He graduated from the art department of National Central University in Nanjing. He was the mentee of Liu Haisu, Lin Fengmian and Xu Beihong. In 1937, with the recommendation of Xu, he furthered his study at Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Belgium. Though he continued to employ the realist style influenced by
Xu Beihong, stylistic transformation was inevitable under the impact of Modern art. Sha later won the Gold Award for Splendid Fine Arts for his excellent achievement. He was exhibited alongside Picasso and other famous modernists, winning wide acclaim in the art scene at the time.

Untitled (Lot 251), is a still life full of vitality, a significant witness of this period. Sha Qi's painterly style has features reminiscent of Impressionism and Expressionism on top of the usual realistic style. This work demonstrates the artist's dexterity; the oil brushstrokes of Sha are related to his childhood experiences when he practiced drawing traditional Chinese Gongbi flowers and birds. This enabled Sha to paint the pedicels and petals in such a delicate way.

He returned to China in 1946 and settled in the countryside due to chronic illness. He worked continuously for more than 30 years and created thousands of works. In mid 1980s, Sha Qi painted mostly with forthright brushwork and primitive colours. In Village (Lot 252), Sha Qi depicted the time he spent in Hanling Village, heaven on earth. The artist expressed his love for the nature and his yearning for the ideal life.

Every year Sha's family would kill a chicken to celebrate the New Year and pray to the ancestors. He always started painting the offerings before the ritual actually started. The technique employed in Offerings (ii) (Lot 253) reveals Sha Qi's originality, using a personal, colourful touch to the handling of the subject matter. The light green in the background is formed by numerous brush strokes in motion, creating a sense of dynamic movement.

Sha Qi also exceled at painting flowers and animals in ink and colour. The charm of ink and wash is fully revealed in Le festin des tigres (Tigers' Feast) (Lot 254). In order to express his most inner feelings, he put aside his academic training on compositional principles and techniques. Sha Qi was born in the year of Tiger -an animal which is considered brave, forceful, and symbolic of power - according to Chinese Astrology, giving the piece an intriguing meaning.