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Lot Essay
For the first time at auction, Christie’s brings together three representative works from key periods in the artist’s oeuvre. Still Life with Plum Blossoms is from a lesser-known, earlier period of artistic experimentation which sees Chua’s fullest use of the expressionistic xieyi style, descendant from the Shanghai school of Chinese painting. Chua presents what appears to be a traditional Still Life, but is in fact an abstraction and compositing of flowers and plants that represent good fortune and new beginnings against a sparse background. The painting’s inscription tells of the first day of the New Year, a humid and dewy morning at dawn, and a rising sun in the East. The poetic calligraphy forms part of the composition as well, and is a rare, early indication of Chua’s sensitivity and capability as an artist.
Chua’s black and white abstract paintings are perhaps his most well-known works, and showcase a lightness of touch and a use of the white space of the paper to unify a composition. In Reflections of the Lotus Pond, Chua revisits inspiration from nature and natural elements, and sets out to capture the lotus pond in varying states such as after a storm, or in different stages of their life cycle, but always capturing an exuberance of life in lyrical, pulsating strokes. In the present example, the concentration of strokes radiating outwards from the centre give a sense of infinite and ever-expanding space. Chua’s expert use of the varying shades of black available in Chinese ink give the composition a depth and complexity as one feels overwhelmed and immersed in the flurry of life and activity as represented by the elegant abstraction of line and form.
View of Old Dwellings is a work from Chua’s Water Village series that he painted whilst travelling through China. Expressive and evocative, the works in this series evoke a moody nostalgia. With a sensitive combination of both heavy and light brushstrokes, Chua conjures a tranquil riverside scene that blends several elements in seamless harmony. Like the expressionists, Chua saw the landscape abstracted into dancing colours and shapes that he eagerly transposed through his expressive brush:
“… my eyesight began to blur in the midst of the rain. Ahead of me was no longer another scenery or landscape, but a large size landscape painting depicted with the roofs of the houses rendered with vibrant blue pigments and ink. The walls of the houses were rendered with the swift and broad brush strokes. The cables, depicted with tinted with brownish pigments and ink, alluded to the stylistic effects of the cao shu (cursive script) of Chinese calligraphic strokes…”
Chua Ek Kay in an interview, June 2005
Adept at harnessing the tenets of traditional Chinese painting as well as Western concepts of expressionism and abstraction, Chua’s paintings reveal an eloquence and sophistication in expressing the immediacy of emotion, and in capturing the poetry and essential beauty of his landscapes and subjects.
Chua’s black and white abstract paintings are perhaps his most well-known works, and showcase a lightness of touch and a use of the white space of the paper to unify a composition. In Reflections of the Lotus Pond, Chua revisits inspiration from nature and natural elements, and sets out to capture the lotus pond in varying states such as after a storm, or in different stages of their life cycle, but always capturing an exuberance of life in lyrical, pulsating strokes. In the present example, the concentration of strokes radiating outwards from the centre give a sense of infinite and ever-expanding space. Chua’s expert use of the varying shades of black available in Chinese ink give the composition a depth and complexity as one feels overwhelmed and immersed in the flurry of life and activity as represented by the elegant abstraction of line and form.
View of Old Dwellings is a work from Chua’s Water Village series that he painted whilst travelling through China. Expressive and evocative, the works in this series evoke a moody nostalgia. With a sensitive combination of both heavy and light brushstrokes, Chua conjures a tranquil riverside scene that blends several elements in seamless harmony. Like the expressionists, Chua saw the landscape abstracted into dancing colours and shapes that he eagerly transposed through his expressive brush:
“… my eyesight began to blur in the midst of the rain. Ahead of me was no longer another scenery or landscape, but a large size landscape painting depicted with the roofs of the houses rendered with vibrant blue pigments and ink. The walls of the houses were rendered with the swift and broad brush strokes. The cables, depicted with tinted with brownish pigments and ink, alluded to the stylistic effects of the cao shu (cursive script) of Chinese calligraphic strokes…”
Chua Ek Kay in an interview, June 2005
Adept at harnessing the tenets of traditional Chinese painting as well as Western concepts of expressionism and abstraction, Chua’s paintings reveal an eloquence and sophistication in expressing the immediacy of emotion, and in capturing the poetry and essential beauty of his landscapes and subjects.