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Lot Essay
'I dwell within a chaotic universe... Sanyu renders a choreography held in stillness, revealing its simplicity through his command of space and the body. Neutral forms require no embellishment to assert themselves; the tranquility they evoke suggests an Eden of the East.' — Jean Claude Riedel
Voluptuous yet serene in bearing, her curves supple and unhurried, she seems at once to glance back and to gaze into the distance. Modèle nue, assise, de dos II (Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II), painted circa 1929–1932, was created during the Années folles in Paris. Jazz, avant-garde art, intellectual ferment, and a nocturnal Bohemian spirit converged into a vibrant energy that pulsed through the city’s very breath, infusing Sanyu’s brush and imagination. Innately Bohemian in temperament, Sanyu was instinctively attuned to the rhythm of this era. The posture and spatial tension of the nude’s back resonate visually with the Surrealist photographic language of Man Ray, oscillating between Eastern restraint and Western avant-garde expression. The nude, a longstanding motif in Western art history, is here reconceived through Sanyu’s brushwork: he outlines the body in pale pink lines as light as ink wash, turning passages of blankness into the sheen of skin. The cadence of Eastern calligraphy permeates Western corporeal aesthetics, shaping a cross-cultural lyricism poised between softness and strength, void and substance. With the successive presentation of two major institutional exhibitions — ‘The Elsewhere of Other: Sanyu and the Echoes of Expatriate Artists in Paris’ (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 painting was originally held in the collection of Sanyu’s earliest dealer, Henri‑Pierre Roché. Well-connected among the artistic circles of Paris and New York, Roché was a pivotal advocate of 20th-century avant-garde art. The artists he championed and promoted included masters of modern art such as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and Constantin Brancusi. At a time when Sanyu was yet to gain recognition in Parisian art circles, Roché recognised his potential and offered tangible support to his work; within only a few years, he had collected more than one hundred oil paintings and over six hundred drawings. Roché’s advocacy and patronage not only fostered the conditions and confidence essential to Sanyu’s early development, but continue to provide crucial insight into the course of his artistic career.
After Roché’s passing, a number of Sanyu’s works were acquired by the Parisian dealer Jean‑Claude Riedel. The notebook left by Roché’s wife, Denise Roché, provides detailed records: inventory no. 48, Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II, was sold in October 1971 for 415 francs to “RIEDEL”, that is, to its subsequent owner, Riedel. As one of the most influential promoters of Sanyu’s art after the artist’s death, Riedel had deep conviction in its value and, in 1977, selected Sanyu’s work as the focus of his gallery’s opening exhibition, reflecting the esteem in which he held the artist. At that time, Sanyu was not yet widely embraced by the market; only a handful of works were sold following the exhibition, with the present painting being one of the most significant.
Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II was ultimately acquired in 1977 by Rotterdam collector L.M.W. van Oosterom and has remained in his family’s collection for nearly half a century. A businessman from Rotterdam with a deep passion for the arts, van Oosterom assembled a diverse collection that encompassed Oceanic and African artifacts as well as post‑war art. During the 1970s, he often traveled to Paris with his three sons to visit galleries, and it was at the Galerie Jean‑Claude Riedel that he first encountered Sanyu’s work. Captivated by Sanyu’s distinctive aesthetic, he subsequently returned to the gallery to acquire Nude Seen from the Back on a Chair directly from Riedel.
Paris in the 1930s witnessed the most exuberant phase of Surrealism. Following the publication of Manifesto of Surrealism by André Breton in 1924, this revolutionary movement — centred on the subconscious, dreams, and automatic writing — exploded onto the art scene like a bombshell, becoming the era’s defining avant-garde force. As an artist living in a foreign land, Sanyu would have been profoundly influenced by this cultural convergence: whether at salon gatherings, through artistic exchanges, or in conversations with friends, he absorbed the spirit that challenged reality and liberated the imagination.
This contemplation of — and pursuit of — dreams, the subconscious, and the irrational finds subtle expression in Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II. The woman’s posture is supple and flowing; delicate pink lines gently trace the curve of her back. Expanses of blankness suggest the woman’s skin, flowing into the pristine background as if suffused with light; yet the contour gives the figure quiet definition, lending the composition a dreamlike, suspended quality. The scholar Eugene Wang has remarked of Sanyu’s nudes: ‘[They] enact the surrealist conception of the female body as a gateway to the “marvellous”, a horizon of redemption that offers glimpses of “what lies ahead, beyond the real”.’. (E. Wang, ‘Sanyu: A Chinese Surrealist in Paris’, in Sanyu: l'écriture du corps, exh. cat. Musée des arts asiatiques Guimet, Paris 2004, p. 62)
In this painting, the proportions of the short-haired woman’s head and body are deliberately exaggerated, giving her full figure a rhythmic, almost musical presence that recalls the images for which Man Ray depicted Kiki de Montparnasse as his model. Another work by Sanyu inspired by the same muse, Femme nue sur un tapis (Nude on Tapestry), has in recent years achieved notable results at auction.
In this visual and cultural context, the composition of this painting enters into a striking dialogue with Man Ray’s iconic photograph Le Violon d’Ingres (1924). Both works centre upon the nude seen from behind, transforming the body’s rounded contour into a visual metaphor reminiscent of a musical instrument. Rather than a mere coincidence, this reflects a visual resonance arising from the cultural milieu of the time. Le Violon d’Ingres is itself a modern reimagining of the nude tradition of the 19th-century master Jean‑Auguste‑Dominique Ingres. Since ancient Greece and Rome, the nude has symbolized classical feminine beauty and has remained one of the most enduring motifs in Western art history. It is within this visual lineage extending from the classical tradition that Sanyu both responds to and reinterprets this venerable subject, while drawing upon his Eastern heritage, calligraphic line, and his distinctive use of blank space. Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II stands not only as an homage to the classical past, but also as a modern creation shaped by the interplay of cross-cultural vocabularies.
'Whether in form or colour, my paintings are very simple. I rarely use any colours other than black, white, and pink; in form, I prioritize simplification, leaving nothing that is unnecessary.' — Sanyu
In these few words, Sanyu articulates the heart of his artistic language: to seek the essential through extreme simplicity, and to distill the truth of form through reduction. His lines are consistently concise and decisive—lightly drawn yet imbued with profound meaning—and this work is no exception. His treatment of line here also brings to mind the Chinese calligraphy panel that Henri Matisse kept in his studio. Reminiscent of the flowing energy of Chinese calligraphy, Matisse employed lines that express complexity through simplicity, using fluid contours to convey the rhythm and spirit of form. Sanyu’s pale pink lines glide delicately down the spine; large areas of skin are suggested by the pink contour, while softly diffused tones surface and fade against the pristine white background, where body and space flow into each other. The blankness functions simultaneously as the background and as the sheen of skin. This method of ‘using line to shape form and white space to define its boundaries’ preserves the vitality of Eastern calligraphic expression, while allowing the Western nude to emerge in passages of restraint, achieving a clarity at once sparse and profound.
The seemingly simple and spontaneous lines are in fact the result of the artist’s meticulous consideration. Under X‑ray examination, the original image of a vase and blooming flowers are clearly visible beneath the layers of paint, revealing that this ‘simplicity’ was not created casually but achieved through repeated refinement. Sanyu distilled forms with the fewest possible strokes, embodying a core pursuit that defined his artistic practice — discovering the true essence of form through subtraction, using concise lines to express the ‘essence’ he perceived. These lines, which appear lightly drawn yet contain a strong sense of structure and an Eastern brush aesthetic, imbue the work’s minimalist appearance with profound layers of thought.
Within Sanyu’s oeuvre, works in which the nude is delineated in pink contour against a flesh-white or milky background are exceedingly rare. According to the catalogue raisonné of Sanyu’s oil paintings published by The Li Ching Cultural and Educational Foundation, only six such works exist across the artist’s entire career, one of which is held in the collection of the YAGEO Foundation in Taipei. The substitution of pink contour for traditional ink line, and the evocation of corporeal radiance through expanses of blankness, create a singular language forged at the intersection of Eastern brushwork and modernist visual vocabulary.
The visual effect — like a halo gently rippling around the figure — is echoed in Man Ray’s photographic work, where deliberate control and reflection of light and shadow create a faint glow along the outer contour, causing the body to hover between reality and illusion. In the present work, Sanyu achieves a comparable effect through pale pink lines and softly diffused washes, creating a cross-media resonance. Yet this blending and haloing do not imitate photographic technique; rather, having absorbed the avant-garde vocabulary of his time, Sanyu reinterpreted it through the logic of Eastern brushwork. With ink-like lines he conveys a ray-like luminosity, so that the body seems to emanate a gentle aura beyond the brushstroke — illuminating, within extreme simplicity, a sensibility both avant-garde and imbued with Eastern spirituality.
Voluptuous yet serene in bearing, her curves supple and unhurried, she seems at once to glance back and to gaze into the distance. Modèle nue, assise, de dos II (Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II), painted circa 1929–1932, was created during the Années folles in Paris. Jazz, avant-garde art, intellectual ferment, and a nocturnal Bohemian spirit converged into a vibrant energy that pulsed through the city’s very breath, infusing Sanyu’s brush and imagination. Innately Bohemian in temperament, Sanyu was instinctively attuned to the rhythm of this era. The posture and spatial tension of the nude’s back resonate visually with the Surrealist photographic language of Man Ray, oscillating between Eastern restraint and Western avant-garde expression. The nude, a longstanding motif in Western art history, is here reconceived through Sanyu’s brushwork: he outlines the body in pale pink lines as light as ink wash, turning passages of blankness into the sheen of skin. The cadence of Eastern calligraphy permeates Western corporeal aesthetics, shaping a cross-cultural lyricism poised between softness and strength, void and substance. With the successive presentation of two major institutional exhibitions — ‘The Elsewhere of Other: Sanyu and the Echoes of Expatriate Artists in Paris’ (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 painting was originally held in the collection of Sanyu’s earliest dealer, Henri‑Pierre Roché. Well-connected among the artistic circles of Paris and New York, Roché was a pivotal advocate of 20th-century avant-garde art. The artists he championed and promoted included masters of modern art such as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and Constantin Brancusi. At a time when Sanyu was yet to gain recognition in Parisian art circles, Roché recognised his potential and offered tangible support to his work; within only a few years, he had collected more than one hundred oil paintings and over six hundred drawings. Roché’s advocacy and patronage not only fostered the conditions and confidence essential to Sanyu’s early development, but continue to provide crucial insight into the course of his artistic career.
After Roché’s passing, a number of Sanyu’s works were acquired by the Parisian dealer Jean‑Claude Riedel. The notebook left by Roché’s wife, Denise Roché, provides detailed records: inventory no. 48, Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II, was sold in October 1971 for 415 francs to “RIEDEL”, that is, to its subsequent owner, Riedel. As one of the most influential promoters of Sanyu’s art after the artist’s death, Riedel had deep conviction in its value and, in 1977, selected Sanyu’s work as the focus of his gallery’s opening exhibition, reflecting the esteem in which he held the artist. At that time, Sanyu was not yet widely embraced by the market; only a handful of works were sold following the exhibition, with the present painting being one of the most significant.
Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II was ultimately acquired in 1977 by Rotterdam collector L.M.W. van Oosterom and has remained in his family’s collection for nearly half a century. A businessman from Rotterdam with a deep passion for the arts, van Oosterom assembled a diverse collection that encompassed Oceanic and African artifacts as well as post‑war art. During the 1970s, he often traveled to Paris with his three sons to visit galleries, and it was at the Galerie Jean‑Claude Riedel that he first encountered Sanyu’s work. Captivated by Sanyu’s distinctive aesthetic, he subsequently returned to the gallery to acquire Nude Seen from the Back on a Chair directly from Riedel.
Paris in the 1930s witnessed the most exuberant phase of Surrealism. Following the publication of Manifesto of Surrealism by André Breton in 1924, this revolutionary movement — centred on the subconscious, dreams, and automatic writing — exploded onto the art scene like a bombshell, becoming the era’s defining avant-garde force. As an artist living in a foreign land, Sanyu would have been profoundly influenced by this cultural convergence: whether at salon gatherings, through artistic exchanges, or in conversations with friends, he absorbed the spirit that challenged reality and liberated the imagination.
This contemplation of — and pursuit of — dreams, the subconscious, and the irrational finds subtle expression in Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II. The woman’s posture is supple and flowing; delicate pink lines gently trace the curve of her back. Expanses of blankness suggest the woman’s skin, flowing into the pristine background as if suffused with light; yet the contour gives the figure quiet definition, lending the composition a dreamlike, suspended quality. The scholar Eugene Wang has remarked of Sanyu’s nudes: ‘[They] enact the surrealist conception of the female body as a gateway to the “marvellous”, a horizon of redemption that offers glimpses of “what lies ahead, beyond the real”.’. (E. Wang, ‘Sanyu: A Chinese Surrealist in Paris’, in Sanyu: l'écriture du corps, exh. cat. Musée des arts asiatiques Guimet, Paris 2004, p. 62)
In this painting, the proportions of the short-haired woman’s head and body are deliberately exaggerated, giving her full figure a rhythmic, almost musical presence that recalls the images for which Man Ray depicted Kiki de Montparnasse as his model. Another work by Sanyu inspired by the same muse, Femme nue sur un tapis (Nude on Tapestry), has in recent years achieved notable results at auction.
In this visual and cultural context, the composition of this painting enters into a striking dialogue with Man Ray’s iconic photograph Le Violon d’Ingres (1924). Both works centre upon the nude seen from behind, transforming the body’s rounded contour into a visual metaphor reminiscent of a musical instrument. Rather than a mere coincidence, this reflects a visual resonance arising from the cultural milieu of the time. Le Violon d’Ingres is itself a modern reimagining of the nude tradition of the 19th-century master Jean‑Auguste‑Dominique Ingres. Since ancient Greece and Rome, the nude has symbolized classical feminine beauty and has remained one of the most enduring motifs in Western art history. It is within this visual lineage extending from the classical tradition that Sanyu both responds to and reinterprets this venerable subject, while drawing upon his Eastern heritage, calligraphic line, and his distinctive use of blank space. Seated Nude Model, Viewed from the Back II stands not only as an homage to the classical past, but also as a modern creation shaped by the interplay of cross-cultural vocabularies.
'Whether in form or colour, my paintings are very simple. I rarely use any colours other than black, white, and pink; in form, I prioritize simplification, leaving nothing that is unnecessary.' — Sanyu
In these few words, Sanyu articulates the heart of his artistic language: to seek the essential through extreme simplicity, and to distill the truth of form through reduction. His lines are consistently concise and decisive—lightly drawn yet imbued with profound meaning—and this work is no exception. His treatment of line here also brings to mind the Chinese calligraphy panel that Henri Matisse kept in his studio. Reminiscent of the flowing energy of Chinese calligraphy, Matisse employed lines that express complexity through simplicity, using fluid contours to convey the rhythm and spirit of form. Sanyu’s pale pink lines glide delicately down the spine; large areas of skin are suggested by the pink contour, while softly diffused tones surface and fade against the pristine white background, where body and space flow into each other. The blankness functions simultaneously as the background and as the sheen of skin. This method of ‘using line to shape form and white space to define its boundaries’ preserves the vitality of Eastern calligraphic expression, while allowing the Western nude to emerge in passages of restraint, achieving a clarity at once sparse and profound.
The seemingly simple and spontaneous lines are in fact the result of the artist’s meticulous consideration. Under X‑ray examination, the original image of a vase and blooming flowers are clearly visible beneath the layers of paint, revealing that this ‘simplicity’ was not created casually but achieved through repeated refinement. Sanyu distilled forms with the fewest possible strokes, embodying a core pursuit that defined his artistic practice — discovering the true essence of form through subtraction, using concise lines to express the ‘essence’ he perceived. These lines, which appear lightly drawn yet contain a strong sense of structure and an Eastern brush aesthetic, imbue the work’s minimalist appearance with profound layers of thought.
Within Sanyu’s oeuvre, works in which the nude is delineated in pink contour against a flesh-white or milky background are exceedingly rare. According to the catalogue raisonné of Sanyu’s oil paintings published by The Li Ching Cultural and Educational Foundation, only six such works exist across the artist’s entire career, one of which is held in the collection of the YAGEO Foundation in Taipei. The substitution of pink contour for traditional ink line, and the evocation of corporeal radiance through expanses of blankness, create a singular language forged at the intersection of Eastern brushwork and modernist visual vocabulary.
The visual effect — like a halo gently rippling around the figure — is echoed in Man Ray’s photographic work, where deliberate control and reflection of light and shadow create a faint glow along the outer contour, causing the body to hover between reality and illusion. In the present work, Sanyu achieves a comparable effect through pale pink lines and softly diffused washes, creating a cross-media resonance. Yet this blending and haloing do not imitate photographic technique; rather, having absorbed the avant-garde vocabulary of his time, Sanyu reinterpreted it through the logic of Eastern brushwork. With ink-like lines he conveys a ray-like luminosity, so that the body seems to emanate a gentle aura beyond the brushstroke — illuminating, within extreme simplicity, a sensibility both avant-garde and imbued with Eastern spirituality.