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Young Beauty
Details
YANG SHANSHEN (1913-2004)
Young Beauty
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
44.5 x 66 cm. (17 1⁄2 x 26 in.)
Inscribed and signed, with three seals of the artist
Dated yihai year (1995)
Young Beauty
Scroll, mounted and framed, ink and colour on paper
44.5 x 66 cm. (17 1⁄2 x 26 in.)
Inscribed and signed, with three seals of the artist
Dated yihai year (1995)
Further Details
Love and Lust in Chinese Paintings
The history of Chinese erotic paintings has been long if not somewhat neglected in mainstream Chinese art historical research. Dutch Sinologist R.H. van Gulik was one of the first academics to conduct systematic research on Chinese historical erotic paintings, having encountered a set of printing blocks of a Ming erotic album in Japan in 1949. His research culminated in his publication of Sexual Life in Ancient China: A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from ca. 1500 B.C. Till 1644 A.D. in 1961. Some studies suggest that this genre existed in China as early as the Shang dynasty. Often intimate in scale and bound as an album, families would use erotic paintings as dowry for new brides in ancient China. Other historical tales suggest that people kept erotic paintings on display or at home to embarrass Zhurong, the fire goddess, thus deterring her from visiting and causing household fires. In this sale, we have gathered a few 20th-century and contemporary examples of erotic paintings as artists revisited the genre to celebrate the tradition. Breaking away from the past, these artists add humour and audacity to challenge the conventions and re-interpret sexuality in ancient and contemporary China.
The history of Chinese erotic paintings has been long if not somewhat neglected in mainstream Chinese art historical research. Dutch Sinologist R.H. van Gulik was one of the first academics to conduct systematic research on Chinese historical erotic paintings, having encountered a set of printing blocks of a Ming erotic album in Japan in 1949. His research culminated in his publication of Sexual Life in Ancient China: A Preliminary Survey of Chinese Sex and Society from ca. 1500 B.C. Till 1644 A.D. in 1961. Some studies suggest that this genre existed in China as early as the Shang dynasty. Often intimate in scale and bound as an album, families would use erotic paintings as dowry for new brides in ancient China. Other historical tales suggest that people kept erotic paintings on display or at home to embarrass Zhurong, the fire goddess, thus deterring her from visiting and causing household fires. In this sale, we have gathered a few 20th-century and contemporary examples of erotic paintings as artists revisited the genre to celebrate the tradition. Breaking away from the past, these artists add humour and audacity to challenge the conventions and re-interpret sexuality in ancient and contemporary China.
Brought to you by
Carmen Shek Cerne (石嘉雯)
Vice President, Head of Department, Chinese Paintings