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Lot Essay
Born 1893 in Jiangsu, significant in the development of modern art history in China, Wang Jiyuan was famous for his proficiency in both Chinese and Western media, including ink painting, watercolour and oil painting. As early as 1919, Wang, an established oil painter and watercolourist in Shanghai, founded the renowned art organization Tien Ma Society in Shanghai with Liu Haisu, to promote Western style painting.
Wang Jiyuan migrated to the United States in 1941 and established the School of Chinese Brushwork in New York. In his early times in New York during the 1940s, he painted a series of important self-portrait works (Lot 2276 & Lot 2277). Vivacious and bold in its application of paint, multi-layered brushstrokes display Wang's considerable facility with the medium. The artist's confident yet inquisitive eyes covertly reveal multi-faceted messages behind the facade, inviting the viewer to step in and explore his inner world and psyche. Wang employed Western light and shade to recreate three-dimensionality and volume while maintaining an aura of graceful elegance in a spurious, lofty manner akin to the literati painters.
In Peonies (Lot 2275), Wang employs a simple composition with ink and watercolour to re-enact the sensitivity adopted from the traditional literati paintings. The balance of and interaction between straight and curved lines creates visual harmony that also exists in the form of vibrant, elegant gradations of pigments of red, greens and blues. These combinations not only create a splendid visual experience but also result in a delicate but lively poetic aura like that in traditional Chinese birds-and flower or still life themes.
During 82 years in Wang's life, his works have been widely exhibited throughout the world and his works are also in the collections of private and major museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the City Art Museum in St. Louis, the Chicago Art Institute, the Montreal Museum, the National Historical Museum in Taiwan as well as the Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno in Mexico.
Wang Jiyuan migrated to the United States in 1941 and established the School of Chinese Brushwork in New York. In his early times in New York during the 1940s, he painted a series of important self-portrait works (Lot 2276 & Lot 2277). Vivacious and bold in its application of paint, multi-layered brushstrokes display Wang's considerable facility with the medium. The artist's confident yet inquisitive eyes covertly reveal multi-faceted messages behind the facade, inviting the viewer to step in and explore his inner world and psyche. Wang employed Western light and shade to recreate three-dimensionality and volume while maintaining an aura of graceful elegance in a spurious, lofty manner akin to the literati painters.
In Peonies (Lot 2275), Wang employs a simple composition with ink and watercolour to re-enact the sensitivity adopted from the traditional literati paintings. The balance of and interaction between straight and curved lines creates visual harmony that also exists in the form of vibrant, elegant gradations of pigments of red, greens and blues. These combinations not only create a splendid visual experience but also result in a delicate but lively poetic aura like that in traditional Chinese birds-and flower or still life themes.
During 82 years in Wang's life, his works have been widely exhibited throughout the world and his works are also in the collections of private and major museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the City Art Museum in St. Louis, the Chicago Art Institute, the Montreal Museum, the National Historical Museum in Taiwan as well as the Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno in Mexico.