Madman

Born in 1949, Qiu Yacai was born in a chaotic era, flowing with the tides of change in such times; he lived like a nomad, drifting from place to place. The artist did not begin his artistic career until the late 1970s, first started with painting, then to writing. With intensity of color, his figure paintings express the feelings of passion and the sadness of lost souls. These sentiments are clearly reflected in Middle Aged (Lot 547) and Nobleman (Lot 548). He uses his skillful line drawing techniques to outline the figures, which won him high acclaim as an artist. Another significant characteristic of his paintings is the absence of eye contract between the figure and the viewers, as in Madman (Lot 549), a profound psychological distance is built. Likewise, Middle Aged Scholar (Lot 546) created in 1986 featured a skinny man with a small, narrow face robed in a loose fitting coat. His withering vision is exactly Qiu's signature "disdainful stare", an attitude of cynicism the artist has for life and storytelling. The artist used a melancholic dark blue In The Wise Man (Lot 545), the mountains and sea views in the background are a rare arrangement that makes the relationship between the figure and the background vague, not quite sure if the man is appreciating the beautiful scenery or contemplating the meaning of life.
Qiu was never an apprentice nor did he attended Art schools, hence the name "amateur painter". As a self-taught artist, without the academic repetitions and clich?s, he had more freedom to develop his own individualistic style. Although the artist is no longer physically here, but the aura of his works lives on. Qiu's works reveal his life long search for completeness - the intangibility and concreteness, the abundance and scarcity in life.