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Lot Essay
An exceptionally rare early painting of French-Chinese artist T'ang Haywen, Paysage (Bois de Boulogne) (1959-1961) (Lot 452) depicts the woods located along the western edge of Paris. Sitting between Neuilly-sur-Seine and Boulogne-Billancourt, the Bois de Boulogne has a dozen lakes and ponds, including the two largest lakes to the east, namely Lac Supérieur (Upper Lake) on the south side and Lac inférieur (Lower Lake) on the north side. The Bois de Boulogne has been a source of inspiration for many writers and artists in Europe, including Stendhal (Le Rouge et le Noir ), Honoré de Balzac (Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes ), Maupassant
(Notre Coeur ), Émile Zola (Nana ), Vincent van Gogh and Édouard Manet.
T'ang's work captured the berthed boats on Lac Supérieur. Contrary to van Gogh's Strollers in the Bois de Boulogne (Fig.1) that depicts the autumn scene, T'ang rendered the woods with his crisp, clean and unconstrained style. The lush greenery, blue sky, white clouds, orange boats and gentle ripples were executed using light, quick and layered brushstrokes, conveying his feelings through the surface and creating an open space of tranquillity and calmness. The expressive brushstrokes were reminiscent of the works by Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse. The artist pursued instantaneity, as he explained to the curator Jean-Paul Desroches during an interview. Painting navigates deftly between two worlds: that which is outwardly visible and that of one's imagination, therefore one's works are expressions of the world of one's subconscious. For T'ang, his rich Daoist philosophy was an endless source of inspiration which allowed him to develop an original style, reminiscent of the refined freestyle brushstroke of Ming dynasty painter Bada Shanren (Zhu Da).
As T'ang focused on Chinese ink painting in the 1960s, his oil paintings, mostly painted in the 1950s, are very rare. Paysage (Bois de Boulogne) was originally held by the artist's friend Truong Thanh Thai.
T'ang and Zao Wou-Ki arrived in France in 1948, followed by Chu Teh-Chun who arrived in 1955. Unlike Zao and Chu, T'ang had not received formal artistic training before his arrival in France. He had however learned ink painting and calligraphy as a child from his grandfather in China before he studied painting at L'Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. He immersed himself in art by visiting museums and galleries. In spite of their different backgrounds, T'ang, Zao and Chu all worked to deconstruct the confines of tradition in the new environment of a different culture. Their early works share a common starting point of figurative painting, only later heading towards non-representational art to express their artistic sentiments.
The three still life works on paper (Lots 453, 454 and 455) created between mid- 1950s and early 1960s demonstrated that the artist focused on oil painting and ink painting during the first decade of his career. These works manifested the incredible skills and techniques of T'ang. The precise composition and proportion, controlled brushstrokes and intriguing colours were manifested in the beautiful floral arrangement, revealing a sense of sophisticated elegance and timeless modernity. The four cherries in the lower left showed the relationship of space and distance with the shades of red and pink, while the split background coloured using a large brush created a much larger space on the paper.
(Notre Coeur ), Émile Zola (Nana ), Vincent van Gogh and Édouard Manet.
T'ang's work captured the berthed boats on Lac Supérieur. Contrary to van Gogh's Strollers in the Bois de Boulogne (Fig.1) that depicts the autumn scene, T'ang rendered the woods with his crisp, clean and unconstrained style. The lush greenery, blue sky, white clouds, orange boats and gentle ripples were executed using light, quick and layered brushstrokes, conveying his feelings through the surface and creating an open space of tranquillity and calmness. The expressive brushstrokes were reminiscent of the works by Pierre Bonnard and Henri Matisse. The artist pursued instantaneity, as he explained to the curator Jean-Paul Desroches during an interview. Painting navigates deftly between two worlds: that which is outwardly visible and that of one's imagination, therefore one's works are expressions of the world of one's subconscious. For T'ang, his rich Daoist philosophy was an endless source of inspiration which allowed him to develop an original style, reminiscent of the refined freestyle brushstroke of Ming dynasty painter Bada Shanren (Zhu Da).
As T'ang focused on Chinese ink painting in the 1960s, his oil paintings, mostly painted in the 1950s, are very rare. Paysage (Bois de Boulogne) was originally held by the artist's friend Truong Thanh Thai.
T'ang and Zao Wou-Ki arrived in France in 1948, followed by Chu Teh-Chun who arrived in 1955. Unlike Zao and Chu, T'ang had not received formal artistic training before his arrival in France. He had however learned ink painting and calligraphy as a child from his grandfather in China before he studied painting at L'Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. He immersed himself in art by visiting museums and galleries. In spite of their different backgrounds, T'ang, Zao and Chu all worked to deconstruct the confines of tradition in the new environment of a different culture. Their early works share a common starting point of figurative painting, only later heading towards non-representational art to express their artistic sentiments.
The three still life works on paper (Lots 453, 454 and 455) created between mid- 1950s and early 1960s demonstrated that the artist focused on oil painting and ink painting during the first decade of his career. These works manifested the incredible skills and techniques of T'ang. The precise composition and proportion, controlled brushstrokes and intriguing colours were manifested in the beautiful floral arrangement, revealing a sense of sophisticated elegance and timeless modernity. The four cherries in the lower left showed the relationship of space and distance with the shades of red and pink, while the split background coloured using a large brush created a much larger space on the paper.