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Jiuzhaigou Valley Series: The Richness of Spring at Wolong Sea
Details
LIU KUO-SUNG (LIU GUOSONG, B. 1932)
Jiuzhaigou Valley Series: The Richness of Spring at Wolong Sea
Scroll, mounted and framed
Ink and colour on paper
45.6 x 185 cm. (18 x 72 7/8 in.)
Executed in 2014
At a time when many of his contemporaries employed only ink and rice paper to reflect the traditions of the classical past, Liu Kuo-sung revolutionised his landscape works through the use of vibrant colours and new aesthetic techniques. While traditional Chinese landscape painting translates literally as ‘mountain and water painting’ (shan shui hua), great emphasis is placed on the rendering of the mountains, with water seldom depicted in detail and often left as a blank space. Liu’s works, however, show a clear fascination with both water and mountain, inspired particularly by his travels to Tibet and the beautiful lakes of Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan.
Liu’s fascination with water led the artist to work over the course of two decades on a technique to capture the ever-changing and ethereal nature of the element. Late Autumn (Lot 727) and Jiuzhaigou Valley Series: the Richness of Spring at Wolong Sea (Lot 751) are examples from Liu’s Steeped Ink series, in which he renders the surface of a body of water at different times of the year. Liu first applies ink and watercolour to moist tracing paper, before placing another sheet of tracing paper on top. He then sweeps the composition with a broad brush, leaving unpredictable horizontal patterns as the two sheets are separated from one another. Through variations of colour, paper thickness, and pressure of application, Liu’s water paintings range from the brilliant, energetic intensity seen in Late Autumn to the soothing gracefulness of The Richness of Spring at Wolong Sea. By conveying the diverse energy of water and the environment reflected upon it, Liu shifts this often-neglected element to the centrepiece of Chinese landscape painting, altering the relationship between mountain and water in this traditional genre.
Jiuzhaigou Valley Series: The Richness of Spring at Wolong Sea
Scroll, mounted and framed
Ink and colour on paper
45.6 x 185 cm. (18 x 72 7/8 in.)
Executed in 2014
At a time when many of his contemporaries employed only ink and rice paper to reflect the traditions of the classical past, Liu Kuo-sung revolutionised his landscape works through the use of vibrant colours and new aesthetic techniques. While traditional Chinese landscape painting translates literally as ‘mountain and water painting’ (shan shui hua), great emphasis is placed on the rendering of the mountains, with water seldom depicted in detail and often left as a blank space. Liu’s works, however, show a clear fascination with both water and mountain, inspired particularly by his travels to Tibet and the beautiful lakes of Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan.
Liu’s fascination with water led the artist to work over the course of two decades on a technique to capture the ever-changing and ethereal nature of the element. Late Autumn (Lot 727) and Jiuzhaigou Valley Series: the Richness of Spring at Wolong Sea (Lot 751) are examples from Liu’s Steeped Ink series, in which he renders the surface of a body of water at different times of the year. Liu first applies ink and watercolour to moist tracing paper, before placing another sheet of tracing paper on top. He then sweeps the composition with a broad brush, leaving unpredictable horizontal patterns as the two sheets are separated from one another. Through variations of colour, paper thickness, and pressure of application, Liu’s water paintings range from the brilliant, energetic intensity seen in Late Autumn to the soothing gracefulness of The Richness of Spring at Wolong Sea. By conveying the diverse energy of water and the environment reflected upon it, Liu shifts this often-neglected element to the centrepiece of Chinese landscape painting, altering the relationship between mountain and water in this traditional genre.
Brought to you by
Carmen Shek Cerne