Dunhuang Dancers

Lin Fengmian recognized and embraced traditional Chinese art during his studies in Paris. His teacher Yencesse once told him, ‘as a Chinese, do you understand the significance and superiority of your artistic tradition? Why do you not study it? You should! Get out of the academy and visit Musée de Guimet and Sèvres Ceramics Museum to find treasures!’ From Yencesse’s teaching, Lin forged a new path in Chinese painting. From the Parisian museum collections, Lin discovered the aesthetics of the round and powerful lines in Chinese ceramics. Upon his return to China, Lin became aware of the art of Dunhuang, possibly by seeing the landmark Zhang Daqian Dunhuang mural paintings exhibition in Chongqing during the Sino-Japanese War. In a letter Lin wrote to his student Pan Qiliu on 5 January 1952, he said, ‘if you see the murals of the Dunhuang caves, you will notice that they are the best kind of art from the East. Many European masters tried to pursue perfection in this and never succeeded; Gaugin was a prime example. I have also been pursuing this for a long time. It looks effortless but is hard to delineate. It is almost impossible for a human hand to paint two lines and fill them with the right tone of colours perfectly.’ This letter and his limited versions of Dunhuang figure paintings were from the 1950s when the artist dedicated himself to researching and exploring the art of Dunhuang.
The present lot is similar in medium and dimensions to other Dunhuang-themed works in the Shanghai Chinese Paintings Academy collection. Lin applied a textured warm grey tone to distinguish the backdrop after completing the animated figures. The earthy hue harmonizes the dancers’ darker skin colour and echos the palette of Dunhuang’s inner cave walls. Full of movement in the composition, each dancer holds a distinct pose: the flautist’s profile faces the viewers as she stands effortlessly on her tiptoe while the dancer waves her arms and twists her waists. Their torsos were draped with sheer chiffon, with long skirts in blue and purple covering their lower body; emerald jewellery adorned their wrists and heads painted in malachite pigments. Lin also used darker ink tons and white pigments to delineate a sense of three-dimensionality to bring the animated dancers to life.
When Lin Fengmian mentioned to Pan Qiliu the impossible pursuit by the Western masters, he was referring to the equilibrium between the refined and the vulgar, whether the shades of grey could harmonize the primary colours, and whether contradictory ideas and representations could achieve a delicate aesthetic. Only painted for a few years of his life, the Dunhuang figure paintings are extremely rare. The present lot was first offered by the artist’s family at Christie’s New York auction in the 1990s, from where Mr Robert Chang purchased it and has since displayed his beloved painting in his residence.