LI KERAN (1907-1989)
LI KERAN (1907-1989)
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LOTS 1550 - 1551 FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION The recipient of this painting is Wu Shishou (1904-1981), a native of Zhejiang. He studied medicine at the Zhejiang Medical school in 1924, later travelled to Tokyo University to obtain his Phd in 1928. Following the Mukden Incident, Wu left Japan and returned to China, where he took up positions as a teacher in the Guangdong Military academy as well as the resident surgeon. He later left the academy and became the director of the Jiangsu hospital whilst practising and teaching surgery, moving to a teaching position at the Southeast Medical College in Shanghai in 1938 and various important medical positions in the years following.
LI KERAN (1907-1989)

The Precipitous Stairs at Wuxia Gorge

Details
LI KERAN (1907-1989)
The Precipitous Stairs at Wuxia Gorge
Inscribed and signed, with one seal of the artist
One collector's seal of Wu Shishou (1904-1981)
Dedicated to Xichun
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
74.5 x 48 cm. (29 3/8 x 18 7/8 in.)
20th Century

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Ben Kong
Ben Kong

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Lot Essay

In 1954, Li Keran began his reform of Chinese painting by exploring nature as the source of artistic creation. That year, over a three month period, he travelled, observing and sketching from nature along the way. Li conducted a second sketching journey in 1956, lasting over eight months, during which time he painted The Hundred Step Ladder at Wushan (Fig. 1), widely considered as one of Li's masterpieces, very similar to this present piece.
The present work portrays a precipitous mountain trail from a bird's eye view, emphasizing the daunting, perilous beauty of the stairway and the challenges of the climb. By placing the pavilion, two figures and the steps winding down the mountain at the bottom-left corner of the paintings, Li draws the viewers to appreciate the entirety of the piece while evoking a sense of boundlessness and infinity.

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