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FROM THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF ROBERT HATFIELD ELLSWORTH
Shi Lu was born Feng Yaheng in Sichuan province in 1919, to a family of wealthy, educated landowners. He studied traditional Chinese painting at the Oriental Art College in Chengdu. In 1939 he journeyed to Yan'an to join forces with the Communist Party and changed his name to Shi Lu, in homage to his two favorite artists, the painter Shitao (1642-1707) and the author Lu Xun (1881-1936). Eventually he settled in Xi'an, where he painted and taught. Shi Lu's final decades were extremely difficult ones: he was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution, suffered a mental breakdown, and died of cancer in 1982.
Long before Shi Lu's innovation and distinctive painting style was widely appreciated, New York collector and dealer Robert H. Ellsworth recognized and became a passionate advocate of the artist's work. Beginning with his first purchase in the late 1970s, Mr. Ellsworth assembled one of the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of Shi Lu's paintings and calligraphy. While Mr. Ellsworth never met Shi Lu, he acquired most of his collection from a close friend of the artist. Mr. Ellsworth continues to treasure the works of this artist today and still keeps his works close by where he can enjoy them daily.
These ten works from the Ellsworth collection reveal the range of themes and artistic interests explored by Shi Lu. In his figure paintings, the artist sought to communicate the spirit of his subject by expressing, in just a few brushstrokes, their most salient emotions. For example in Child's Bath, the playfulness of the naked child is shown bending over to play with the water, while the woman's love is demonstrated as she envelopes him with her body and gently washes his head. Bird and flower paintings, such as Ducks are the First to Know the Warmth of Spring and Lotus Blossoms in Summer, allowed Shi Lu to not only enliven his compositions with bright colors but also to experiment with such juxtapositions as dark and light, sharp angles and rounded washes. In his landscapes, Shi Lu most fully employed the energetic, staccato brushstrokes for which his style was best known, incorporating his practice of pulling the elements of his composition, close to the surface, heightening the viewer's sense of engagement and immediacy.
SHI LU (1919-1982)
Lotus Blossoms in Summer
Details
SHI LU (1919-1982)
Lotus Blossoms in Summer
Entitled and signed, with one painted seal of the artist
Two collector's seals of Robert H. Ellsworth
Dedicated to Ma Liang
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
130.8 x 65.4 cm. (51 1/2 x 25 3/4 in.)
20th Century
Lotus Blossoms in Summer
Entitled and signed, with one painted seal of the artist
Two collector's seals of Robert H. Ellsworth
Dedicated to Ma Liang
Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper
130.8 x 65.4 cm. (51 1/2 x 25 3/4 in.)
20th Century
Literature
The Beauty of Art: Paintings and Calligraphy by Shi Lu from the Private Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, Christie's New York, 2011, p.53.
Exhibited
Christie's New York, The Beauty of Art: Paintings and Calligraphy by Shi Lu from the Private Collection of Robert Hatfield Ellsworth, 15 -31 March 2011.
Brought to you by
Ben Kong
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