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Lot Essay
The discussion on the relationship between figurative painting and photography in "Photographic realism" provided a fertile environment for Chen Yifei's development. Chen introduced new perspectives to photographic realism, by adding traditional Chinese elements of emphasizing the mood, and combining the qualities of photography to focus, zoom, and process light . He expressed the above through Suzhou Series with drizzling atmosphere in Jiangnan, attempting to inject beauty, atmosphere and mood from Chinese traditional culture. In 1984, The New York Times and Arts News described Chen's artistic style as 'romantic realism'. This description demonstrates his works to convey strong inner feelings that could deeply impress the audience.
He began to paint Water Villages series in 1982. For inspiration Chen travelled to Europe during that summer and then to the waterside villages of Jiangnan in the autumn. Later, he returned to New York and dedicated his time to the first group of the Waterside Villages series. His work was then exhibited in 1983 at the New York Hammer Galleries, Brooklyn Museum in 1984 and the New England Center for Contemporary Arts in 1985. Beginning in 1984, Chen was recognized and regarded as an artist of "romantic realism".
The Jiangnan landscape in Returning Home: Sunset, Suzhou (Lot 3366) is charming and permeates a solemn spirituality. Chen Yifei uses his delicate frosting technique with layers of paint and refined brushstrokes to depict the village houses of black tiles and white walls. The white tiles washed by the morning dew and the view of the back of the lady walking up the stairs symbolize that after every darkness, there is always hope of a new day. Chen Yifei achieves an admirable composition in the painting. He simplifies the complex structure of the nostalgic stone house at the road side by depicting the roof, walls and stairs with simple and skillful linear and diagonal lines. The aesthetic of lines and the harmony between the soft lines and the dark tone is not only a visual effect that is impressive to the eyes; it touches and purifies our heart and soul, creating a peaceful moment for us to indulge in. This work was included in the exhibited at the Hammer Galleries, New York; and New England Centre for Contemporary Art, Connecticut.
Suzhou Water Village (Lot 3365) is in the collection of a famous American actress, Maureen Paula O'Sullivan. The painting is vertically separated into three sections of the water canal and two Jiangnan water villages side by side. The artist captures the instantaneous changes of light, shadow and movements in nature. Chen treated the black tiles and white walls in Jiangnan waterside villages as geometrical patterns of rhombus, trapezium, rectangle and triangle. At the same time, the color blocks create the beauty of simplicity similarly expressed in constructionism of Western abstract art (Fig 1). The complex lighting during the dusk expressed lingering impression, symbolizing harmony regardless of time and space. It echoes Chen's pursuit for eternal beauty and sincere emotions.
In Gathering Water (Suzhou) (Lot 3364), Chen Yifei applied the theory of being faithful to natural lights, first put forward by Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in the United Kingdom in the 19th century. He evolved lights into a language of art in order to express the in-depth emotion embedded in the scenery. Applying a delicate technique of frosting with thick layers of colour, Chen successfully catches the misty lights of breaking dawn to show the humid, hazy and romantic atmosphere unique to Jiangnan. The painting shows Chen's attempt to capture the instantaneous changes of light, shades and nature. This illusory scene in Chen's painting has a similar effect of the blurred vision created by Gerhard Richter (Fig. 2). It expressed his skepticism about oil paintings' effectiveness in transferring the full effect of reality, as he believed that realistic painting can only successfully portray reality to a certain extent. The river is as clam as a mirror, even a boat is reluctant to disturb the calmness. This gives his work soul and tranquil peace. It is clear to all that Chen Yifei stayed true to the faith of realism and kept himself abreast of the times. His success in putting in vivacity to traditional realistic oil paintings was obvious and he has touched the hearts of viewers of different cultural backgrounds in the contemporary world.
He began to paint Water Villages series in 1982. For inspiration Chen travelled to Europe during that summer and then to the waterside villages of Jiangnan in the autumn. Later, he returned to New York and dedicated his time to the first group of the Waterside Villages series. His work was then exhibited in 1983 at the New York Hammer Galleries, Brooklyn Museum in 1984 and the New England Center for Contemporary Arts in 1985. Beginning in 1984, Chen was recognized and regarded as an artist of "romantic realism".
The Jiangnan landscape in Returning Home: Sunset, Suzhou (Lot 3366) is charming and permeates a solemn spirituality. Chen Yifei uses his delicate frosting technique with layers of paint and refined brushstrokes to depict the village houses of black tiles and white walls. The white tiles washed by the morning dew and the view of the back of the lady walking up the stairs symbolize that after every darkness, there is always hope of a new day. Chen Yifei achieves an admirable composition in the painting. He simplifies the complex structure of the nostalgic stone house at the road side by depicting the roof, walls and stairs with simple and skillful linear and diagonal lines. The aesthetic of lines and the harmony between the soft lines and the dark tone is not only a visual effect that is impressive to the eyes; it touches and purifies our heart and soul, creating a peaceful moment for us to indulge in. This work was included in the exhibited at the Hammer Galleries, New York; and New England Centre for Contemporary Art, Connecticut.
Suzhou Water Village (Lot 3365) is in the collection of a famous American actress, Maureen Paula O'Sullivan. The painting is vertically separated into three sections of the water canal and two Jiangnan water villages side by side. The artist captures the instantaneous changes of light, shadow and movements in nature. Chen treated the black tiles and white walls in Jiangnan waterside villages as geometrical patterns of rhombus, trapezium, rectangle and triangle. At the same time, the color blocks create the beauty of simplicity similarly expressed in constructionism of Western abstract art (Fig 1). The complex lighting during the dusk expressed lingering impression, symbolizing harmony regardless of time and space. It echoes Chen's pursuit for eternal beauty and sincere emotions.
In Gathering Water (Suzhou) (Lot 3364), Chen Yifei applied the theory of being faithful to natural lights, first put forward by Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in the United Kingdom in the 19th century. He evolved lights into a language of art in order to express the in-depth emotion embedded in the scenery. Applying a delicate technique of frosting with thick layers of colour, Chen successfully catches the misty lights of breaking dawn to show the humid, hazy and romantic atmosphere unique to Jiangnan. The painting shows Chen's attempt to capture the instantaneous changes of light, shades and nature. This illusory scene in Chen's painting has a similar effect of the blurred vision created by Gerhard Richter (Fig. 2). It expressed his skepticism about oil paintings' effectiveness in transferring the full effect of reality, as he believed that realistic painting can only successfully portray reality to a certain extent. The river is as clam as a mirror, even a boat is reluctant to disturb the calmness. This gives his work soul and tranquil peace. It is clear to all that Chen Yifei stayed true to the faith of realism and kept himself abreast of the times. His success in putting in vivacity to traditional realistic oil paintings was obvious and he has touched the hearts of viewers of different cultural backgrounds in the contemporary world.