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Lot Essay
In the history of early 20th century Eastern and Western art exchange, Lin Fengmian can be considered as one of the most singular characters. His decision to completely immerse himself in the latter part of Western Modernist art was an attempt to detach from Academic Realism, and to even entirely extricate himself from the Renaissance. Lin Fengmian's love for avant-garde art such as the radical Cubism movement reflects his trailblazing spirit. With his pioneering determination, he made immeasurable contributions to revolutionizing modern art in China.
Acknowledging that "even though Cubism was created by Picasso and Braque, it was a continuation of Cézanne's ideas" and "the fundamental aesthetic consideration of Cubism is geometric shape", Lin Fengmian focused on the subject of the still-life as the frontline of his creative experimentation. His objective was to pursue aesthetics that are constructed by geometric order. Amongst the sophisticated and interwoven beauty of geometric shapes resides a cultivated optimism that envisions the fusion of the traditional and the contemporary. Despite being heavily influenced by Post-Impressionism, Lin Fengmian did not conform and follow the prescribed path. On the contrary, he inexhaustibly studied the essence of Chinese art and distilled the Eastern artistic spirit found in Chinese porcelain, traditional ink painting, and calligraphy. Lin Fengmian's greatest contribution to modern art was to formulate the universalities and commonalities between theories of Western Modernism and Chinese traditional art.
In the Still Life series, one can discover how Lin Fengmian synthesised a new development from Cézanne and Picasso's theories. Instead of deconstruction, he boldly articulated all the nuances between the tangible and intangible by integrating the relationships between objects and spaces. In practice, Lin Fengmian revolutionarily coupled the traditional Chinese concept of the tangible and intangible (yin yang) with the Western oil painting concept of creating strong contrasts between light and dark. This comprehensive visual dialogue introduces the use of light in ink painting. In Western oil painting, warm hues and translucent colours are used to represent beams of light or light sources. Lin Fengmian masterfully used the six hues concept in Chinese ink painting in Flowers and Fruits (Lot 162) - the stark contrast between the opacity of the dense black trapezoid in the foreground and the translucency of the window and curtains are magnificently expressed by black ink washes. The shapes are delineated by the paper showing through the paint, suggesting light penetrating the image. Utilizing colours as his artistic vocabulary, he used a pale shade of amber yellow to denote the presence of light. We can see Lin Fengmian purposely highlighted the geometric composition from how he reduced planter, fruits, and the fruit bowl into triangle, trapezoid, circle, and square. He also stripped the objects of light and volumetric modeling - the flattened picture plane is divided by the curves of the vessels and the rectangular grid in the background. The planter, fruit bowl, and ceramic vase also form an equilateral triangle so that there is a strong sense of coherence amongst the entire composition. A vase in the style similar to a Neolithic Majiayao culture ceramic appears on the right side of the painting. With its ancient lines and patterns, Lin Fengmian introduces the aesthetic of the primitive humans into contemporary ink painting. The artist had intentionally elongated the ceramic vase to accentuate the elegance of the curves. Curves-"the line between beauty and life" as described by Lin Fengmian-complement the sense of tranquility created by the straight lines in the background. The symmetry, the balanced composition, and the interspersing of the tangible and the intangible in Flowers and Fruits succinctly preserve the compositional tension and representational aspect of Cubism. At the same time, the work alludes to the fundamental spirituality of China and reveals the peaceful and serene state of mind that is inherent in its culture.
Acknowledging that "even though Cubism was created by Picasso and Braque, it was a continuation of Cézanne's ideas" and "the fundamental aesthetic consideration of Cubism is geometric shape", Lin Fengmian focused on the subject of the still-life as the frontline of his creative experimentation. His objective was to pursue aesthetics that are constructed by geometric order. Amongst the sophisticated and interwoven beauty of geometric shapes resides a cultivated optimism that envisions the fusion of the traditional and the contemporary. Despite being heavily influenced by Post-Impressionism, Lin Fengmian did not conform and follow the prescribed path. On the contrary, he inexhaustibly studied the essence of Chinese art and distilled the Eastern artistic spirit found in Chinese porcelain, traditional ink painting, and calligraphy. Lin Fengmian's greatest contribution to modern art was to formulate the universalities and commonalities between theories of Western Modernism and Chinese traditional art.
In the Still Life series, one can discover how Lin Fengmian synthesised a new development from Cézanne and Picasso's theories. Instead of deconstruction, he boldly articulated all the nuances between the tangible and intangible by integrating the relationships between objects and spaces. In practice, Lin Fengmian revolutionarily coupled the traditional Chinese concept of the tangible and intangible (yin yang) with the Western oil painting concept of creating strong contrasts between light and dark. This comprehensive visual dialogue introduces the use of light in ink painting. In Western oil painting, warm hues and translucent colours are used to represent beams of light or light sources. Lin Fengmian masterfully used the six hues concept in Chinese ink painting in Flowers and Fruits (Lot 162) - the stark contrast between the opacity of the dense black trapezoid in the foreground and the translucency of the window and curtains are magnificently expressed by black ink washes. The shapes are delineated by the paper showing through the paint, suggesting light penetrating the image. Utilizing colours as his artistic vocabulary, he used a pale shade of amber yellow to denote the presence of light. We can see Lin Fengmian purposely highlighted the geometric composition from how he reduced planter, fruits, and the fruit bowl into triangle, trapezoid, circle, and square. He also stripped the objects of light and volumetric modeling - the flattened picture plane is divided by the curves of the vessels and the rectangular grid in the background. The planter, fruit bowl, and ceramic vase also form an equilateral triangle so that there is a strong sense of coherence amongst the entire composition. A vase in the style similar to a Neolithic Majiayao culture ceramic appears on the right side of the painting. With its ancient lines and patterns, Lin Fengmian introduces the aesthetic of the primitive humans into contemporary ink painting. The artist had intentionally elongated the ceramic vase to accentuate the elegance of the curves. Curves-"the line between beauty and life" as described by Lin Fengmian-complement the sense of tranquility created by the straight lines in the background. The symmetry, the balanced composition, and the interspersing of the tangible and the intangible in Flowers and Fruits succinctly preserve the compositional tension and representational aspect of Cubism. At the same time, the work alludes to the fundamental spirituality of China and reveals the peaceful and serene state of mind that is inherent in its culture.