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Lot Essay
Known as the pioneer of Imagist Landscape Painting, Hong Ling incorporates the brushwork of contemporary western art into the interpretation and illustration of the spirit and rhythm of traditional Chinese landscape painting, so as to pursue a manifestation of Chinese culture in depth. Since 1990s, Hong Ling built a studio in Mount Huangshan and started a reclusive life here to observe the nature and seek for individuality. He painted a series of works based on the real sceneries of the changing seasons in Mount Huangshan which vividly illustrate the classic notion of “having the image of mountains in mind before applying the brush”.
Late Autumn (Lot 422) depicts an utterly stunning scenery in which mountains and trees are all tinged red with the advent of autumn. Painted in 2012, this work is not only an extension of the artist’s previous style, but also demonstrates the refinement of his techniques. As to the same subject of late autumn scenery, unlike Li Keran’s All the Mountains Blanketed in Red (fig. 1), Hong Ling’s work gives out a majestic characteristics while observed in the distance, and also shows abstract brushstrokes in close range. His treatment of leaves, branches and twigs resembles Pollock’s “drip” technique; the saturated colours and dramatic richness and depth are reminiscent of Monet’s lotus pond after the rage of the tempest in the midsummer (Fig. 2), as well as Turner’s variegated sky tinged by the setting sun (Fig.3). Meanwhile, Hong Ling reveals great admiration for another contemporary artist, Xu Bing’s work, especially his experiment on exploring the western and eastern cultures through the art of characters. In Late Autumn, the composition of dots and plane in small area reveals similar fun as Xu Bing’s “Landscript” series does. In order to express the wildly changing colours of the autumn scenery, Hong Ling delicately applied abstractionist techniques to depict the figurative red leaves, so as to achieve a dynamic beauty and literati complex. His work truly obtained a spontaneous and straight-forward character, just as Shi Tao once stated “I exist as I am”.
Late Autumn (Lot 422) depicts an utterly stunning scenery in which mountains and trees are all tinged red with the advent of autumn. Painted in 2012, this work is not only an extension of the artist’s previous style, but also demonstrates the refinement of his techniques. As to the same subject of late autumn scenery, unlike Li Keran’s All the Mountains Blanketed in Red (fig. 1), Hong Ling’s work gives out a majestic characteristics while observed in the distance, and also shows abstract brushstrokes in close range. His treatment of leaves, branches and twigs resembles Pollock’s “drip” technique; the saturated colours and dramatic richness and depth are reminiscent of Monet’s lotus pond after the rage of the tempest in the midsummer (Fig. 2), as well as Turner’s variegated sky tinged by the setting sun (Fig.3). Meanwhile, Hong Ling reveals great admiration for another contemporary artist, Xu Bing’s work, especially his experiment on exploring the western and eastern cultures through the art of characters. In Late Autumn, the composition of dots and plane in small area reveals similar fun as Xu Bing’s “Landscript” series does. In order to express the wildly changing colours of the autumn scenery, Hong Ling delicately applied abstractionist techniques to depict the figurative red leaves, so as to achieve a dynamic beauty and literati complex. His work truly obtained a spontaneous and straight-forward character, just as Shi Tao once stated “I exist as I am”.