.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
In October 1983, the Western art world responded enthusiastically to Chen Yifei's first solo exhibition, a series of paintings depicting China's canal towns, at the Hammer Galleries in New York. Within just two years, he was invited to give another solo show at the Corcoran in Washington D.C., demonstrating once again the West's high acclaim for his achievements. Also in 1985, American oil magnate Dr. Armand Hammer visited China and presented another painting from that series, Chen's Memory of My Homeland – Double Bridge, to Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. That same year, Chen's oil painting Bridge was chosen by the United Nations as its first day cover. Since then, Chen's scenes of China's canals and water towns, which continued to evolve throughout the different creative phases of his career, have come to symbolize his artistry, confirming his resounding success and reputation in both the East and the West. The work offered here, Chen's Late Afternoon (Suzhou 1984) (Lot 215), was completed in 1984, as his creative powers reached their zenith and his reputation continued its swift rise. It has remained in the collection of its current owner ever since its acquisition from Hammer Galleries in the 1980s.
Most of the paintings in Chen's canal-town series offer the viewer a bird's-eye perspective; Late Afternoon (Suzhou 1984), however, presents the scene from an unusual angle, in which our gaze is directed upward from the water. We can imagine sitting in the same light boat as the artist, gazing ahead toward two other wooden vessels advancing in the fading light. As our eyes sweep upward, it seems that in only seconds the stone arch of the bridge will be above us, and that we will soon glide further ahead, into the artist's dream of old Jiangnan. Chen achieves a 'frosted' effect with repeated layers of thick pigment, depicting in fine brushstrokes the white walls and black tiles of the Suzhou water towns and their small cassia boats. Chen demonstrates his understanding and mastery of light to the full in the way he captures the unique mistiness of this Jiangnan scene. In the foreground, the waters of the canal are lightly disturbed by the rower's oar; a hazy light is cast from the water onto the side of the boat ahead and the white walls in the distance, evoking the humid, mistily romantic atmosphere unique to the artist's hometown of Ningbo. The flowing patterns of light and shadow across these waves symbolize an enduring harmony and tranquility that reaches to us across the ages.
Most of the paintings in Chen's canal-town series offer the viewer a bird's-eye perspective; Late Afternoon (Suzhou 1984), however, presents the scene from an unusual angle, in which our gaze is directed upward from the water. We can imagine sitting in the same light boat as the artist, gazing ahead toward two other wooden vessels advancing in the fading light. As our eyes sweep upward, it seems that in only seconds the stone arch of the bridge will be above us, and that we will soon glide further ahead, into the artist's dream of old Jiangnan. Chen achieves a 'frosted' effect with repeated layers of thick pigment, depicting in fine brushstrokes the white walls and black tiles of the Suzhou water towns and their small cassia boats. Chen demonstrates his understanding and mastery of light to the full in the way he captures the unique mistiness of this Jiangnan scene. In the foreground, the waters of the canal are lightly disturbed by the rower's oar; a hazy light is cast from the water onto the side of the boat ahead and the white walls in the distance, evoking the humid, mistily romantic atmosphere unique to the artist's hometown of Ningbo. The flowing patterns of light and shadow across these waves symbolize an enduring harmony and tranquility that reaches to us across the ages.