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Lot Essay
"I wish that my works are like Bodhi Trees, which are beautiful, tranquil and thought provoking." -Li Guijun (Schoeni Art Gallery, Li Gui Jun: Paintings from 1993- 2002, HK, China, 2002, p. 167. )
After the many years of politicised Academic Realism that had dominated and controlled the artistic production of the Cultural Revolution, young artists, newly liberated in their individualities, emerged to find a new direction for Chinese art. Academy students were suddenly exposed to an entirely new range of ideas and techniques, which would inspire and transform cultural production in the ensuing years. Jin Shangyi, finding a need for a more structured academic model, led the Central Academy of Fine Art into a revival in the Academic Realism that Xu Beihong had first introduced in 1949. Li Guijun, born in the western suburb of Beijing in 1964, was a student at the Academy in the 1980s during the height of its neo-classical style, and was trained rigorously under Jin Shangyi to paint from studying the masters of the Renaissance. Along with the economic reform and the opening up of China, the 1980s had issued in a new era that was modern and youthful in spirit. Li was part of this distinctly new generation and would become known as a pioneer of the Fourth Generation of Chinese Realist artists.
Known for his characteristic depictions of young Chinese women in their living environments, Li's paintings explore the physical and spiritual interior spaces of modern day China. His female subjects frequently appear to be lost in a daydream, detached from the rest of the world. His works encapsulating a desire to reassert the individual and the inner world within the rhetoric of Academic Realism. Li frees his work from social and political content, carefully planning the compositions and colours of his paintings with simple intentions: to capture a feeling, a moment in life, and to reveal the beauty that exists all around us.
Compared to his earlier works, which are more grey and melancholic, Li's mature works utilize a brighter colour palette and quietly embrace a sense of joie de vivre. Painted at the turn of the 21st century, his Girl with Tulip (Lot 120) is light, airy, and luscious, perhaps even more so than his other works from the same time. Sitting in a sun-drenched room, a young female figure clasps a vase of white tulips in full bloom. The freshness of the flowers and the grapevine that extends behind her bring the composition to life and heighten the sensuality of the painting. Her skin is smooth and fair like porcelain, and one can almost feel the textures of the skirt that drapes fluidly over her legs and the wicker rug underneath her feet. The figure's eyes are locked on the viewer, yet half of her face hidden in the shadows, as if she is half engaged, half daydreaming. As light filters into the room, it casts the shape of a window onto the wall behind her, reminding the viewer of time, and to savour the beauty that blossoms and thrives in this moment.
After the many years of politicised Academic Realism that had dominated and controlled the artistic production of the Cultural Revolution, young artists, newly liberated in their individualities, emerged to find a new direction for Chinese art. Academy students were suddenly exposed to an entirely new range of ideas and techniques, which would inspire and transform cultural production in the ensuing years. Jin Shangyi, finding a need for a more structured academic model, led the Central Academy of Fine Art into a revival in the Academic Realism that Xu Beihong had first introduced in 1949. Li Guijun, born in the western suburb of Beijing in 1964, was a student at the Academy in the 1980s during the height of its neo-classical style, and was trained rigorously under Jin Shangyi to paint from studying the masters of the Renaissance. Along with the economic reform and the opening up of China, the 1980s had issued in a new era that was modern and youthful in spirit. Li was part of this distinctly new generation and would become known as a pioneer of the Fourth Generation of Chinese Realist artists.
Known for his characteristic depictions of young Chinese women in their living environments, Li's paintings explore the physical and spiritual interior spaces of modern day China. His female subjects frequently appear to be lost in a daydream, detached from the rest of the world. His works encapsulating a desire to reassert the individual and the inner world within the rhetoric of Academic Realism. Li frees his work from social and political content, carefully planning the compositions and colours of his paintings with simple intentions: to capture a feeling, a moment in life, and to reveal the beauty that exists all around us.
Compared to his earlier works, which are more grey and melancholic, Li's mature works utilize a brighter colour palette and quietly embrace a sense of joie de vivre. Painted at the turn of the 21st century, his Girl with Tulip (Lot 120) is light, airy, and luscious, perhaps even more so than his other works from the same time. Sitting in a sun-drenched room, a young female figure clasps a vase of white tulips in full bloom. The freshness of the flowers and the grapevine that extends behind her bring the composition to life and heighten the sensuality of the painting. Her skin is smooth and fair like porcelain, and one can almost feel the textures of the skirt that drapes fluidly over her legs and the wicker rug underneath her feet. The figure's eyes are locked on the viewer, yet half of her face hidden in the shadows, as if she is half engaged, half daydreaming. As light filters into the room, it casts the shape of a window onto the wall behind her, reminding the viewer of time, and to savour the beauty that blossoms and thrives in this moment.