EVERLASTING CLIFFS AND FARMLANDS

Everlasting Cliffs and Farmlands (Lot 364) is one of Pang Jiun's newest works, and marks a potential evolution in the artist's technique and style. In contrast to his earlier, more Impressionistic works such as Old Trees, White Walls (Lot 506), Everlasting Cliffs and Farmlands exhibits an increasingly sparing application of paint and colour: gone are the bold impasto brushstrokes of his previous paintings, in favour of more delicate lines and blending, as well as a muted palette of greys, greens and blues. However, Pang has retained his characteristic blend of Chinese and Western art, although admittedly to a lesser degree; in contrast to Pang Jiun's Dream Home, which depicts European-esque red roofed houses along a river, Everlasting Cliffs and Farmlands is an illustration of a landscape that is decidedly more Eastern in its rice paddies and misty mountains, reminiscent of those depicted in traditional Chinese ink paintings. However, in contrast to the painting's traditional imagery, Pang has chosen oil paint as his medium, thus creating a convergence between Asian painting philosophy and Western aesthetic typical of his paintings. A dream-like, almost otherworldly atmosphere is created with the grey tones used to depict the mountains reflected in the rice paddies. Pang's delicate use of line also endows the piece with a subtle sense of rhythm, adding to the scene's mesmerizing tranquillity. In spite of this, Pang Jiun has included the red roofed houses previously seen in his Dream Home: these add anecdotal detail and provide a Western balance to the scene's Eastern appearance, looking slightly incongruous amongst the overbearingly Chinese towering mountains.