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Lot Essay
Hsiao Chin was born into a prestigious family in Shanghai in 1935. His father, Hsiao Yu-mei, is a central figure in the modern history of music in China. Like Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Hsiao chin went through a series of trauma throughout his childhood, youth and older life. Bearing these burdens of life, Hsiao Chin went on searching the meaning of being in his art.
The indispensable foundation in Hsiao Chin's works lies in the artist's wisdom to unify concepts of Eastern religion and philosophy in a Western context. Through the artist's hand, art is transformed into belief, a kind of assertion, and colour becomes the language.
Hsiao Chin's unique understanding and application of colours is a prominent characteristic in his works. Since 1951, Hsiao has studied under Chu Teh-Chun and Li Zhongsheng, the Father of Modern Art in Taiwan, and started to learn the perspectives of contemporary paintings. Due to his fascination with colours, Hsiao chose Fauvism as his starting point of his in-depth study of composition and colour. "My work is heavily influenced by Mr. Li's teaching," stated Hsiao Chin.
In 1956, Hsiao Chin was rewarded with a scholarship from the Spanish government to further his study in Europe. He resided and painted in Barcelona, Milan, New York, Paris, London, Germany and so on. Having moved to New York in 1967, his started to use acrylic to create super flat paintings. Both painted in 1974, Penetratzione VI (Lot 276) and Penetratzione VIII (Lot 275) are typical works during that period. From 1973 to 1974, Hsiao began to study Zen and gained a profound understanding towards life and art. A minimal style in both paintings, skilfully combined with the sharp contrast between colours and shapes, elevates the conflict expressed in the works. The simple, compact and asymmetric composition of the works renders a kind of beauty that is fully refined and sublime. Such simple and modest representation of beauty is rooted from the philosophical thoughts of Zen in the East. (A Journey Back to the Root: Hsiao Chin 1954-2004, Guangdong Museum of Art, p. 14)
Paintings become the best way to express Hsiao Chin's legendary life. Painted in 2002, La comet-12 (Lot 274) shows the artist's desire to go "back to true self". Comet shoots across the vast sky, travelling through the endless cosmos. Does the splash of light perpetuate the desolation of the universe, or the grandeur of the cosmos? After all the hustle and bustle, any superficial pursuit seems insignificant.
In my opinion, the most important aspect of painting is not the act of painting, but to search for and understand the meaning of life through painting, to record the life experience and my own reflection, and to inspire the prospect of one's life.
-Hsiao Chin
The indispensable foundation in Hsiao Chin's works lies in the artist's wisdom to unify concepts of Eastern religion and philosophy in a Western context. Through the artist's hand, art is transformed into belief, a kind of assertion, and colour becomes the language.
Hsiao Chin's unique understanding and application of colours is a prominent characteristic in his works. Since 1951, Hsiao has studied under Chu Teh-Chun and Li Zhongsheng, the Father of Modern Art in Taiwan, and started to learn the perspectives of contemporary paintings. Due to his fascination with colours, Hsiao chose Fauvism as his starting point of his in-depth study of composition and colour. "My work is heavily influenced by Mr. Li's teaching," stated Hsiao Chin.
In 1956, Hsiao Chin was rewarded with a scholarship from the Spanish government to further his study in Europe. He resided and painted in Barcelona, Milan, New York, Paris, London, Germany and so on. Having moved to New York in 1967, his started to use acrylic to create super flat paintings. Both painted in 1974, Penetratzione VI (Lot 276) and Penetratzione VIII (Lot 275) are typical works during that period. From 1973 to 1974, Hsiao began to study Zen and gained a profound understanding towards life and art. A minimal style in both paintings, skilfully combined with the sharp contrast between colours and shapes, elevates the conflict expressed in the works. The simple, compact and asymmetric composition of the works renders a kind of beauty that is fully refined and sublime. Such simple and modest representation of beauty is rooted from the philosophical thoughts of Zen in the East. (A Journey Back to the Root: Hsiao Chin 1954-2004, Guangdong Museum of Art, p. 14)
Paintings become the best way to express Hsiao Chin's legendary life. Painted in 2002, La comet-12 (Lot 274) shows the artist's desire to go "back to true self". Comet shoots across the vast sky, travelling through the endless cosmos. Does the splash of light perpetuate the desolation of the universe, or the grandeur of the cosmos? After all the hustle and bustle, any superficial pursuit seems insignificant.
In my opinion, the most important aspect of painting is not the act of painting, but to search for and understand the meaning of life through painting, to record the life experience and my own reflection, and to inspire the prospect of one's life.
-Hsiao Chin