Scène parisienne (Parisian scene)

Sha Qi graduated from the art department of national Central University in Nanjing. He was the mentee of Liu Haisu, Lin Fengmian and Xu Beihong. In 1937, with the recommendation of Xu, he furthered his study at royal academy of Fine arts in Belgium. In 1940s, after his graduation from royal academy of Belgium with a Gold award for Splendid Fine arts, Sha Qi stayed and continued his pursuit for art as a professional artist. With a composition of vintage charm, brief and arbitrary brushstrokes, as well as his skillful mastery of colours, Sha Qi's work deeply touched the art Circle in europe of that time and received broad praise from many art galleries. As a brilliantly talented artist, Sha Qi could freely access to all kinds of subjects, for instance his three paintings presented in this auction season which covered three major artistic subjects including figure painting, still life painting and landscape painting. Painted in 1940, Reclining Nude (Lot 578), with a composed layout and serene warm-toned brown palette, reveals an influence from Flemish art. The variation of light and text u re in the work Composition of Still Life (Lot 579) can totally rival the tranquil and exquisite implication in Flemish art's still life paintings. The Chinese furniture, accessories, and satin tablecloth in the painting however reflect a solid oriental aesthetics and cultural connotation rooted in his life. While Sha Qi had already maintained the touching quality of Classicism, he on the contrary jumped out of the box of realism and turned to the unfettered brushwork of Impressionism to make the stacked pigment his own outlet of personal emotions. Caught in the tide of expressionism of modern art, Sha Qi gradually approached to western mainstream society during his life in Europe. He included elements of daily life, nature and humanity into his paintings and tried to capture the fleeting moments in a haze of light. His work Scene Parisienne (Parisian scene) (Lot 580) outlines a kaleidoscopic vibe of the city through vivid and accurate description on human figures and harmonious rendering of various colours. This group of works painted in Belgium demonstrate Sha Qi's extraordinary character and talent, as well as reveal his artistic concept of incorporating the modern expressive technique into the framework of classicism, which laid the foundation for the distinguished quality of his later works.