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Lot Essay
In 1979, Ma Desheng formed the Stars Group with more than 20 other artists. The group's first exhibition was held at the outdoor park adjacent to the Beijing Art Museum. This exhibition sparked public interest in Modernism and abstract art in the West. After participating in the second exhibition of the Stars Group, Ma Desheng moved to Paris to pursue his artistic expression in a more liberal environment. During this period of transition, he developed his characteristic figurative style of executing Chinese ink on the ground. Goddess (4) (Lot 33) offered in this auction has the appearance of a figurative depiction, yet the abstract style is more closely related to Ma's later works in the Rocks Series. The form is meticulously suggested through the ethereal play between heavy strokes and translucent washes. At times airy and nebulous, other times stark and vivid, such juxtaposition creates multitude of layers that are harmonious yet without any unnecessary embellishments.
A fellow member of the Star Group with Ma Desheng, Qu Leilei uses Chinese ink and text to document his travels, experiences, and memories in the 1994 work Landscape (Lot 34). The monochrome rendering of the skies and architecture are masterfully captured by the economic use of Chinese ink brushstrokes. Such execution infuses this Western landscape with the medium and the spirit of the eastern literati. Gazing up from a low viewpoint, the artist brings out the historic significance and majesty that are exuded from the architecture. The poem of Xin Qiji further asserts the breadth of the artist's ideology through antiquity to contemporary times and across the boundaries of East and West. Wang Keping, another member of the Stars Group, uses the medium of wood to subtly express his sentimentality towards the culture in the work Untitled (Lot 32). Detached from any representation of political accusations, Wang focuses on the materiality of the wood itself. His respectful treatment of the medium that corresponds to the nature of each individual piece of wood fully preserves its primitive form. For this reason, the splits, branches, and knots of the wood become the representation of humanity. At the same time, it is the continuation of the humanitarianism that was championed by the Stars Group.
A fellow member of the Star Group with Ma Desheng, Qu Leilei uses Chinese ink and text to document his travels, experiences, and memories in the 1994 work Landscape (Lot 34). The monochrome rendering of the skies and architecture are masterfully captured by the economic use of Chinese ink brushstrokes. Such execution infuses this Western landscape with the medium and the spirit of the eastern literati. Gazing up from a low viewpoint, the artist brings out the historic significance and majesty that are exuded from the architecture. The poem of Xin Qiji further asserts the breadth of the artist's ideology through antiquity to contemporary times and across the boundaries of East and West. Wang Keping, another member of the Stars Group, uses the medium of wood to subtly express his sentimentality towards the culture in the work Untitled (Lot 32). Detached from any representation of political accusations, Wang focuses on the materiality of the wood itself. His respectful treatment of the medium that corresponds to the nature of each individual piece of wood fully preserves its primitive form. For this reason, the splits, branches, and knots of the wood become the representation of humanity. At the same time, it is the continuation of the humanitarianism that was championed by the Stars Group.