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Lot Essay
What is in front of us, painting cannot illustrate words, and words cannot illustrate meaning; what’s there is all that there is, all of it without difference, and one is all
- Richard Lin
The early 1960s marked the first milestone in Richard Lin’s artistic techniques and conceptual expression. His series of painting and relief works were first exhibited in 1961 at his solo exhibition in London, and 5 February (Lot 55) – created in the same year – perfectly expresses his combination of geometric abstract composition with the concept of relief painting by melding together circular, square, diagonal shapes with aluminium and coloured strips. Furthermore, the entire frame is dominated by Lin’s characteristic use of varying shades of white, making this work a crucial piece for understanding the development of his style.
5 February is comprised of seven abstract elements, including three diagonal lines, a square, a circle, and two horizontal lines. The three diagonal white lines vary in their thickness and colour intensity, with the upper-left line being the most visible, and the line at the lower-right corner almost disappearing into the canvas. The contour of the square on the left is substantial and raises itself slightly on the canvas, which combines with the very thin layer of white paint within the square to set the shape apart from the white base of the canvas and creates the impression of the square floating atop the canvas. On the square also sits a yellow horizontal line, and the other flat line on the right is crafted in aluminium.
Lin’s exact, systematic, and rational creative process channels the ideology of minimalistic masters such as Frank Stella. Stella’s Black Paintings emphasises the flatness of the canvas itself (Fig. 1), deliberately drawing the viewers’ attention to the two-dimensionality of the medium of painting and subverts the Western tradition of creating the illusion of depth through the use of three-point perspective. Lin’s relief paintings, on the other hand, define space and mass on the canvas. For instance, in 5 February, the seven elements in the painting form seven longitudinal layers based on their perceived distances from the viewer. This dimensionality is not the mere illusion of depth as a representation of actual space, nor a guide for the viewer towards an imagined point beyond the canvas. This piece instead calls out its own being, materiality, tangibility, and reminds the audience of the objective truth of the canvas’s existence.
Throughout Lin’s artistic career, his use of circular elements mainly concentrated around 1960-61 for his works on canvas, and 1957-58 plus 1966 for works on paper. Seen through these paper works, the circle was one of Lin’s most important visual symbols when he first experimented with painting in 1957-58. In addition to circles, triangles and irregular quadrangles were also frequently featured in his works during this period. Unique insight into these three elements can be found in works by the 18th-century Japanese Zen artist Sengai Gibon (Fig. 2). D.T. Suziki, a scholar of Zen Buddhism, interpreted these three shapes according to Zen philosophy: the circle represents “nothingness (Śūnyatā)”, and thus the foundation of being. The triangle represents form, or the emergence of being, and the square, being a derivative or reiteration of triangles, stands for infinity. In effect, Gibon’s work outlines an Oriental conception of the universe. Having been influenced by traditional Eastern cultures from a young age, it is unsurprising that Lin’s early works resonate with Zen philosophy, using abstract and fundamental symbols to express his observations about the universe and his interior self. Lin’s art did not stop here, however, and his experiences with Western civilisation accumulated during his study of Architecture in the UK, plus his sensitivity towards new artistic genres, drove him towards a harder-edged geometric abstractionism. The circles in his works between 1960-61 can find their ancestry from his early works on paper, but they have become more geometric, with clearer edges, and absent his expressionist strokes. Ultimately, Lin does not wish to convey an ancient Oriental universe, instead he presents a modernised world that is much closer to the contemporary age. This modernized world still retains the wisdom of Eastern philosophy, but it is expressed after being recoded and decoded by modern methods.
- Richard Lin
The early 1960s marked the first milestone in Richard Lin’s artistic techniques and conceptual expression. His series of painting and relief works were first exhibited in 1961 at his solo exhibition in London, and 5 February (Lot 55) – created in the same year – perfectly expresses his combination of geometric abstract composition with the concept of relief painting by melding together circular, square, diagonal shapes with aluminium and coloured strips. Furthermore, the entire frame is dominated by Lin’s characteristic use of varying shades of white, making this work a crucial piece for understanding the development of his style.
5 February is comprised of seven abstract elements, including three diagonal lines, a square, a circle, and two horizontal lines. The three diagonal white lines vary in their thickness and colour intensity, with the upper-left line being the most visible, and the line at the lower-right corner almost disappearing into the canvas. The contour of the square on the left is substantial and raises itself slightly on the canvas, which combines with the very thin layer of white paint within the square to set the shape apart from the white base of the canvas and creates the impression of the square floating atop the canvas. On the square also sits a yellow horizontal line, and the other flat line on the right is crafted in aluminium.
Lin’s exact, systematic, and rational creative process channels the ideology of minimalistic masters such as Frank Stella. Stella’s Black Paintings emphasises the flatness of the canvas itself (Fig. 1), deliberately drawing the viewers’ attention to the two-dimensionality of the medium of painting and subverts the Western tradition of creating the illusion of depth through the use of three-point perspective. Lin’s relief paintings, on the other hand, define space and mass on the canvas. For instance, in 5 February, the seven elements in the painting form seven longitudinal layers based on their perceived distances from the viewer. This dimensionality is not the mere illusion of depth as a representation of actual space, nor a guide for the viewer towards an imagined point beyond the canvas. This piece instead calls out its own being, materiality, tangibility, and reminds the audience of the objective truth of the canvas’s existence.
Throughout Lin’s artistic career, his use of circular elements mainly concentrated around 1960-61 for his works on canvas, and 1957-58 plus 1966 for works on paper. Seen through these paper works, the circle was one of Lin’s most important visual symbols when he first experimented with painting in 1957-58. In addition to circles, triangles and irregular quadrangles were also frequently featured in his works during this period. Unique insight into these three elements can be found in works by the 18th-century Japanese Zen artist Sengai Gibon (Fig. 2). D.T. Suziki, a scholar of Zen Buddhism, interpreted these three shapes according to Zen philosophy: the circle represents “nothingness (Śūnyatā)”, and thus the foundation of being. The triangle represents form, or the emergence of being, and the square, being a derivative or reiteration of triangles, stands for infinity. In effect, Gibon’s work outlines an Oriental conception of the universe. Having been influenced by traditional Eastern cultures from a young age, it is unsurprising that Lin’s early works resonate with Zen philosophy, using abstract and fundamental symbols to express his observations about the universe and his interior self. Lin’s art did not stop here, however, and his experiences with Western civilisation accumulated during his study of Architecture in the UK, plus his sensitivity towards new artistic genres, drove him towards a harder-edged geometric abstractionism. The circles in his works between 1960-61 can find their ancestry from his early works on paper, but they have become more geometric, with clearer edges, and absent his expressionist strokes. Ultimately, Lin does not wish to convey an ancient Oriental universe, instead he presents a modernised world that is much closer to the contemporary age. This modernized world still retains the wisdom of Eastern philosophy, but it is expressed after being recoded and decoded by modern methods.