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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ASIAN COLLECTION
LIU KUO-SUNG (LIU GUOSONG, B. 1932)
Which Is Earth? No. 20
Details
LIU KUO-SUNG (LIU GUOSONG, B. 1932)
Which Is Earth? No. 20
Hanging scroll
Ink and colour on paper
127.7 x 76.5 cm. (50 ¼ x 30 1/8 in.)
Executed in 1969
Titleslip inscribed by the artist
Which Is Earth? No. 20
Hanging scroll
Ink and colour on paper
127.7 x 76.5 cm. (50 ¼ x 30 1/8 in.)
Executed in 1969
Titleslip inscribed by the artist
Provenance
Lot 29, Bonhams London, Fine Asian Art, 8 November 2004
Private collection, Asia
Private collection, Asia
Further details
NEW DIRECTIONS
Ink artists from Taiwan have gained momentous attention overseas in the past years as they emerged in the international art scene. Presenting works by artists born between the 1920s and 1940s, this session explores the openness and artistic freedom in post-war Taiwan. Such catalyst for change and innovation resulted in progressive artists founding the influential Fifth Moon Group and the Ton Fan Art Group.
The development of Chinese ink painting in Taiwan in the past half century is highlighted by the founding of the Fifth Moon Group in 1957 with principal members including Liu Kuo-sung, Chuang Che, and Fong Chung-ray. Bold and innovative, these artists strove to revolutionise the art practice in Taiwan with a Western perspective, spearheading the representation of abstraction in the ink medium. Outside the Fifth Moon Group, architect turned artist Chen Qikuan employed a unique worldview, offering a glimpse of landscape, architecture, and humanity in a single composition. He Huaishuo infused new techniques and perspectives into traditional Chinese landscape paintings, encouraging young artists to not only learn from their teachers.
Which Is Earth? No. 20 (Lot 855) is a remarkable example of Liu’s Space Series. Having achieved great success in his Calligraphic Abstraction Series in the 1960s, Liu was inspired by astronaut William Anders’ photograph Earthrise taken on the Apollo 8 Mission and hence began to develop his Space Series in 1968. He depicts the full moon shining above the earth with broad, abstract brushstrokes representing the landmasses and oceans of the Earth, and combines his innovation in subject matter and his maturity in his abstract paintings. By the 1970s, Liu has uncovered a face of Chinese paintings that was not imagined before.
Ink artists from Taiwan have gained momentous attention overseas in the past years as they emerged in the international art scene. Presenting works by artists born between the 1920s and 1940s, this session explores the openness and artistic freedom in post-war Taiwan. Such catalyst for change and innovation resulted in progressive artists founding the influential Fifth Moon Group and the Ton Fan Art Group.
The development of Chinese ink painting in Taiwan in the past half century is highlighted by the founding of the Fifth Moon Group in 1957 with principal members including Liu Kuo-sung, Chuang Che, and Fong Chung-ray. Bold and innovative, these artists strove to revolutionise the art practice in Taiwan with a Western perspective, spearheading the representation of abstraction in the ink medium. Outside the Fifth Moon Group, architect turned artist Chen Qikuan employed a unique worldview, offering a glimpse of landscape, architecture, and humanity in a single composition. He Huaishuo infused new techniques and perspectives into traditional Chinese landscape paintings, encouraging young artists to not only learn from their teachers.
Which Is Earth? No. 20 (Lot 855) is a remarkable example of Liu’s Space Series. Having achieved great success in his Calligraphic Abstraction Series in the 1960s, Liu was inspired by astronaut William Anders’ photograph Earthrise taken on the Apollo 8 Mission and hence began to develop his Space Series in 1968. He depicts the full moon shining above the earth with broad, abstract brushstrokes representing the landmasses and oceans of the Earth, and combines his innovation in subject matter and his maturity in his abstract paintings. By the 1970s, Liu has uncovered a face of Chinese paintings that was not imagined before.
Brought to you by
Angelina Li