Song – Perception by Cai Xiaosong (Part 1)

Song of Mountain Streams (triptych), 2016, ink on paper
Left: 144.5 x 118.5 cm; Center: 144.5 x 50.5 cm; Right : 144.5 x 116.5 cm

Cai Xiaosong

'What you see in my painting is the essence or meaning of natural phenomena, and not the actual physical form of mountains, stones, and clouds. These forms are concrete, and what I paint is metaphysical.' Cai Xiaosong.

Cali Xiaosong's new ink landscape painting series entitled Song – Perception which marks a decisive transition in his art. In the new series, Cai shifts his artistic focus from representational expression to a visual interpretation of the world on a metaphysical level. Meticulously executed subject matters such as scholars’ rocks, planets, and Buddhist sculptures frequently seen in his previous works now give way to semi-abstract landscapes that are full of movement and rhythm and which capture the essence of nature rather than its physical forms.

A passionate traveller, Cai Xiaosong has journeyed through Europe, North Africa and the Middle East to understand the origins of and to experience Western culture first hand. Struck by contrasts between cultures and religions, Cai approaches his paintings with a sense of purpose and seeks a harmonious solution to balance the opposition. He is drawn to analysing the conflict between humanity and nature, man and the universe, classical and contemporary, past and present, tradition and innovation. Cai’s aesthetic approach to conflict has garnered international attention with the debut of Planet, an illuminated painting installation featured at the Future Pass exhibition during the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011.

ABOUT CAI XIAOSONG 

Cloud Gate (diptych), 2016, ink on paper
Top: 62.5 x 253 cm; Bottom: 82.5 x 253 cm

 

Cloud Genesis, 2016, ink on paper, 69 x 139 cm 

Cai Xiaosong was born in Shanghai in 1964, and graduated from the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts. Trained in traditional Chinese ink painting, he experimented with Western media and art forms before returning to an exclusive use of ink, brush, silk, and paper. Cai moved to Beijing in 2009 and currently lives and works in both Beijing and Los Angeles. 

Cai’s works have been widely exhibited by institutions including the National Museum of Fine Arts (Havana, Cuba), National Taiwan Museum Of Fine Arts, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Beijing Today Art Museum, IVAM - Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (Spain), Plum Blossoms (Hong Kong) and more.

Click here to read Song - Perception by Cai Xiaosong (Part 2)

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Photography: Courtesy of Sotheby's Hong Kong.

The Birth of Aphrodite - Mural from the Grand Salon of the S.S. Normandie

Jean Dupas  讓·迪帕

Jean-Théodore Dupas
Eight Panels from “The Birth of Aphrodite” Mural from the Grand Salon
of the S.S. Normandie
circa 1934
verre églomisé
98. x 121⅝ in.
Courtesy of Sotheby's

The eight exceptionally rare panels were from the legendary ocean liner, the S.S. Normandie. These stunning reverse-glass panels are part of the monumental History of Navigation mural, designed by French artist Jean Dupas, which was originally installed in the luxury voyageur’s Grand Salon. Depicting part of the mythological Birth of Aphrodite scene, the eight adjacent panels on are surviving relics of the French vessel’s extravagant Art Deco interiors, and capture the glamour of this by-gone era.

法國藝術家讓·迪帕 (Jean Dupas) 設計的《航海史》 (History of Navigation) 巨型壁畫 , 原是豪華遠洋郵輪諾曼底號 (S.S. Normandie)  頭等艙「大華廳」(Grand Salon) 的裝飾作品。這八幅玻璃壁畫是其中一部分。這艘當年風靡一時的法國豪華郵輪的船艙設計以裝飾藝術風格為宗 , 極盡巧麗堂皇。這八幅相連壁畫以《維納斯的誕生》(The Birth of Aphrodite) 為主題 , 它見證了當年船上燈色璀璨的奢華盛景 , 是昔日歲月的遺珍。

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Japanese Woodblock Prints - Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

‘Under The Great Wave Off Kanagawa’

From the series Thirty-Six Views Of Mount Fuji, c.1831

Courtesy of Sotheby's

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JMW Turner - Ehrenbreitstein

J.M.W. Turner 泰納

More than just a landscape, Turner's painting reflects a passage from Childe Harold, an epic poem the leading Romantic English poet, Lord Byron.  In the poem, Byron refers to the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein in the context of his own sense of melancholy and disillusionment in the aftermath of the French revolutionary wars.  But for Turner it would seem that the fortress represents something more positive: that peace has vanquished war.  The ancient fortress, almost dissolved in a hazy light, is no but a backdrop to the enduring everyday activities of the Rhine and Moselle valleys.

In Ehrenbreitstein, painted in 1835, Turner has created an image that speaks in a profound way to both the eye and the mind - a duality that is at the heart of his unique artistic genius.

泰納此畫不但描繪了恢弘景致,更呼應了英國浪漫主義詩人拜倫 (Lord Byron) 的長篇敘事史詩《恰爾德·哈羅爾德遊記》(Childe Harold) 其中一段篇章。詩中, 拜倫藉著埃倫布賴特施泰因要塞,抒發自身於法國革命戰爭後的失落覺醒與憂鬱之情。然而, 對泰納而言, 要塞具有正面意義,象徵和平最終熄滅了戰火, 要塞遺址在背景中已見模糊, 幾乎消失於朦朧日光中, 成為萊茵河上及穆莎河谷 (Moselle valleys) 中人們日常生活的映襯。

《埃倫布賴特施泰因》中的一片勝景除了賞心悅目以外, 其深意更直指人心。泰納的藝術才華獨一無二, 饒富層次, 在此作可見一斑。

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Modern Asian Art - Ding Yanyong - Nude J.

Ding Yanyong 丁衍庸

Ding Yanyong 丁衍庸
Nude J. 《裸女》
1963
Oil on board 油彩木板
45.8 x 30.4 cm
Courtesy of Sotheby's Hong Kong

In the 1960s, Ding Yanyong rekindled his passion for seals.  Nude J. created around this time, displays traits inspired by traditional seal carvings, delineating the subject with the elegance of Chinese epigraphy techniques.  The current work comes from the collection of Belgian sinologist Perre Ryckmans, who acquired the work in Hong Kong after developing a friendship with Ding during the 1960s, when has was conducting research and teaching at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.  Rickman's collection of Chinese paintings was sold as a special auction at Sotheby's Hong Kong Fine Chinese Paintings Auction in 2016.

1960 年代, 丁衍庸在香港中文大學新亞書院執教, 隨著生活逐漸安穩, 他亦重拾多年來對璽印的愛好, 此時誕生的《裸女》, 即可見丁公引入篆刻靈感, 先塗油彩、繼而刮剔, 以充滿金石韻味的線條勾勒人物。本作出自比利時漢學家李克曼( Perre Ryckmans )「無用堂」舊藏, 李氏於 1960 年代到中文大學進修與執教, 與丁公結下友誼, 由是獲得本作。

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