.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Fu Baoshi is considered one of the leading figures of Chinese Modern painting, who often used traditional poems and tales as the basis for his paintings. Fu Baoshi's The Song of the Pipa Player speaks of the melancholy Bai Juyi felt upon hearing the sad tune of the pipa player, and the misfortunes of which she spoke. Stirring up his own feelings of despair over his dismissal from his post as governor, he felt an affinity to her song and her hardships, while the autumn season adds to the chills of adversity.
The Song of the Pipa Player was written in 816 AD by Bai Juyi, a well-known Tang dynasty poet and official. Once the Commander of Jiangzhou, stationed in Xunyang, he was demoted and exiled by Emperor Xianzong over the failure to catch the murderer of two high officials.
Tightly composed, Fu's composition is deliberately and carefully thought out- placed in the corners diagonally across from each other, the characters exude a pensive and melancholic affection, while the gloomy moonlight surrounding creates a sense of cool detachment. Fu's well-modeled and dark-complexioned figures blend well in the overall darkly dramatic tonality of the painting, and the trees underscore Fu's mastery in brushwork and skilful play of light.
Fu believed that "the beauty of a painting will affect the viewer if it first affects the painter", and that successful painting employs calligraphic brushwork which emerges from physicality and emotion. In The Song of the Pipa Player, Fu broke through the traditional notions of Chinese painting and created something exciting and different while remaining culturally significant with undercurrents of political commentary.
In the years preceeding 1945, Fu painted several paintings of the same subject matter and composition. A similar piece is housed in the Collection of the Nanjing Museum-created in 1944, a year before this current lot, one can see how Fu's practise on the same subject matter further developed his inner vision and artistic expression.
The Song of the Pipa Player was written in 816 AD by Bai Juyi, a well-known Tang dynasty poet and official. Once the Commander of Jiangzhou, stationed in Xunyang, he was demoted and exiled by Emperor Xianzong over the failure to catch the murderer of two high officials.
Tightly composed, Fu's composition is deliberately and carefully thought out- placed in the corners diagonally across from each other, the characters exude a pensive and melancholic affection, while the gloomy moonlight surrounding creates a sense of cool detachment. Fu's well-modeled and dark-complexioned figures blend well in the overall darkly dramatic tonality of the painting, and the trees underscore Fu's mastery in brushwork and skilful play of light.
Fu believed that "the beauty of a painting will affect the viewer if it first affects the painter", and that successful painting employs calligraphic brushwork which emerges from physicality and emotion. In The Song of the Pipa Player, Fu broke through the traditional notions of Chinese painting and created something exciting and different while remaining culturally significant with undercurrents of political commentary.
In the years preceeding 1945, Fu painted several paintings of the same subject matter and composition. A similar piece is housed in the Collection of the Nanjing Museum-created in 1944, a year before this current lot, one can see how Fu's practise on the same subject matter further developed his inner vision and artistic expression.