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Lot Essay
John Way was one of the pioneers of Chinese abstract art, active on the American art scene since the 1960s. Way was born in Shanghai in 1921, his father a well-known collector who inculcated in him an appreciation for art. In 1931 Way studied calligraphy with Li Zhongqian; his early cultivation in Chinese art and culture would provide much sustenance for his later creative work. In 1949, during the war years in China, he moved first to Guangzhou and then Hong Kong, and finally in 1956 moved to the US. Taking up residence in Boston, MA was an important milestone and turning point in his career.
American Abstract Expressionism was reaching its zenith in the 1950s when John Way began actively working in that style and studying its aesthetics. By the 1960s he was creating his own Chinese style of abstraction in the midst of the dual influences of Western Abstract Expressionism and the inspiration of the Chinese written language and its calligraphy. As early as 1965 he was chosen to show works in the exhibition 'Painting without a Brush,' held by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, an acknowledgement by the mainstream American art world of the novel ideas and superlative technical skill of his painting. Borrowing as he did from elements of traditional Asian art was not limited to artists of Asian descent such as Way, however, but can also be seen in the work of Western artists such as Mark Tobey and Robert Motherwell, who both took inspiration from Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.
John Way's abstract work from the '60s brims with the flavor of calligraphy, linking it to his earlier strong foundation in that discipline, while his brushwork in the oil medium also communicated the energy of his wrist and his bodily movements. Way's work evolved and achieved greater depth in the '70s, a period during which he seems to have completely digested and distilled the essence of the Chinese culture that had accompanied him for so many years. The result was the derivation of a new kind of art by this artist.
Way's 1975 Landscape (Lot 371) is an excellent work from this period. In 1975 Way was living in Los Altos Hills, CA. Also in 1975 he participated in a group show “The American Painters in Paris” exhibition in Paris, France. Even though while there he continually deepened his knowledge of Western oil techniques, this Landscape still possesses all the appeal of traditional Chinese landscapes, and exudes at the same time a strong feeling of history. Way inherited the spirit and the aesthetic wisdom of the Chinese painters of the past, using minimal amounts of blue, white, and black tones to produce a landscape that seems half real and half imagined, a vista where we find ourselves among the great mountains and rivers of China. From one lofty peak in the clouds we gaze at the distant peaks opposite us, a majestic view that unites as one all of its mountains, clouds, and blue sky. Way's superior technique allows him to capture the fleeting existence of cloud and mist by varying the thickness of his white pigments, and he achieves a sense of transparency similar to the spreading washes of color employed in the ink medium. He has here clearly mastered the mixing of pigments to achieve any desired effect, while also discovering the flexibility and reach of the oil medium. He produces complex blue tones, capturing shades of pure sky blue, cerulean, and slate blue. Surging calligraphic lines in black cap the painting off with their movement, communicating to the full Way's inner vision of this landscape among the clouds and mists. John Way expressed the abstract quality of traditional Chinese landscapes through the oil medium, and successfully transformed his blank canvases into deeply meaningful spaces. In these spaces contemporary viewers can return to traditional times, city dwellers can find nature, and our minds and spirits receive the spark of new energy. Way's art successfully reaches across time and space, and links East with West.
American Abstract Expressionism was reaching its zenith in the 1950s when John Way began actively working in that style and studying its aesthetics. By the 1960s he was creating his own Chinese style of abstraction in the midst of the dual influences of Western Abstract Expressionism and the inspiration of the Chinese written language and its calligraphy. As early as 1965 he was chosen to show works in the exhibition 'Painting without a Brush,' held by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, an acknowledgement by the mainstream American art world of the novel ideas and superlative technical skill of his painting. Borrowing as he did from elements of traditional Asian art was not limited to artists of Asian descent such as Way, however, but can also be seen in the work of Western artists such as Mark Tobey and Robert Motherwell, who both took inspiration from Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.
John Way's abstract work from the '60s brims with the flavor of calligraphy, linking it to his earlier strong foundation in that discipline, while his brushwork in the oil medium also communicated the energy of his wrist and his bodily movements. Way's work evolved and achieved greater depth in the '70s, a period during which he seems to have completely digested and distilled the essence of the Chinese culture that had accompanied him for so many years. The result was the derivation of a new kind of art by this artist.
Way's 1975 Landscape (Lot 371) is an excellent work from this period. In 1975 Way was living in Los Altos Hills, CA. Also in 1975 he participated in a group show “The American Painters in Paris” exhibition in Paris, France. Even though while there he continually deepened his knowledge of Western oil techniques, this Landscape still possesses all the appeal of traditional Chinese landscapes, and exudes at the same time a strong feeling of history. Way inherited the spirit and the aesthetic wisdom of the Chinese painters of the past, using minimal amounts of blue, white, and black tones to produce a landscape that seems half real and half imagined, a vista where we find ourselves among the great mountains and rivers of China. From one lofty peak in the clouds we gaze at the distant peaks opposite us, a majestic view that unites as one all of its mountains, clouds, and blue sky. Way's superior technique allows him to capture the fleeting existence of cloud and mist by varying the thickness of his white pigments, and he achieves a sense of transparency similar to the spreading washes of color employed in the ink medium. He has here clearly mastered the mixing of pigments to achieve any desired effect, while also discovering the flexibility and reach of the oil medium. He produces complex blue tones, capturing shades of pure sky blue, cerulean, and slate blue. Surging calligraphic lines in black cap the painting off with their movement, communicating to the full Way's inner vision of this landscape among the clouds and mists. John Way expressed the abstract quality of traditional Chinese landscapes through the oil medium, and successfully transformed his blank canvases into deeply meaningful spaces. In these spaces contemporary viewers can return to traditional times, city dwellers can find nature, and our minds and spirits receive the spark of new energy. Way's art successfully reaches across time and space, and links East with West.