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拍品专文
"Artists should not be governed by others, should not be restricted by nature, and should not be enslaved by money. Art is beyond
everything. Art is the expression of an artist's personality, individuality and life."
– Liu Haisu
“…in broad strokes, loud red and tragic green, these striking colours soon were being used in all parts of the country following the growth of the art school. This greatly frightened those who tried to restore the old order.”
– Liu Haisu, “The Modern Chinese Painting as Observed in an Art Exhibition” Meizhan Huikan (Collected Writings of an Art Exhibition), April 1929.
Few can say they have visited Mount Huang ten times, fewer still can say they visited the famous mountain at the age of 92, yet this is exactly what Liu Haisu desired, one final opportunity to study the natural wonder which has been featured countlessly in his works during his career.
EARLY INFLUENCE
Liu was born into a distinguished family where education was a priority. His father had been an active participant of the Taiping Rebellion, his influential mother the granddaughter of a highly regarded economist and calligrapher of the Qing dynasty named Hong Liangji (Fig. 1). An emphasis on learning the arts was therefore instilled in him from an early age which saw him excel in the study of traditional Chinese painting and literature under the tutelage of Kang Youwei (Fig. 2), whom Liu regarded as his philosophical and artistic mentor - after the revolution of 1911, leading reformer Kang became a loyalist and began to apply to painting his principle of "reviving the old in order to evolve the new". He decried the free sketch (xieyi) style literati paintings of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties but approved of the meticulous detailed academic style that traces back to the Song dynasty. Kang Youwei also greatly admired Giuseppe Castiglione, propounding the slogan "integrate Chinese and Western to Develop a New Era of Painting".
Due to the passing of his mother and an unhappy marriage forced upon by his father, Liu desired to study overseas and travel to Japan. His father, who opposed this idea, suggested instead for him to set up an art school in Shanghai, and so, in 1909 at the age of 13, Liu set off to Shanghai.
A REVOLUTION IN THE MAKING
On 23rd November, 1912, at the age of 16, Liu Haisu, together with two friends, established the first art college in modern China known then as the Shanghai College of Graphic Art, later becoming the Shanghai Fine Arts School, which stood to become the most influential art school in China (Fig. 3). Important lecturers for Western art include Wang Jiyuan, Guan Liang, Pan Yuliang, while Chinese art lectueres included Huang Binhong, Zhang Daqian, Pan Tianshou. Liu also invited intellectuals to give talks, such as Cai Yuanpei, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and Guo Moruo (Fig. 4), with Liu interposing his own art direction through the contribution of essays and the establishment of the art paper in 1918.
Liu firmly believed that everyone was entitled to study art – the establishment of a purely arts-oriented establishment was a major contribution to the reformation of the education system in China, at a time when learning art and culture was restricted only to a closed group of intellectuals. This school was a crucial place for learning European art in pre-World War II China. Liu propounded democracy, freedom and sketching from observing nature (Fig. 5), and was the first to organize trips to surrounding rural areas to observe and take inspiration from nature.
The next few years were critical to Liu's development of his ideologies which saw him opening more art schools and pioneering both national and international art exhibits in the 1920s and 30s. Always vocal with his philosophies, he remained steadfast when facing moral objection to his practice of incorporating the Western idea of studying the nude female form at his schools, refusing to bow down to national criticism. In 1915 Liu introduced the first models to pose nude for his students, beginning a controversy that would span until 1927, where Liu was forced to head to Japan to avoid arrest. This opportunity enabled him to come face to face with Japanese modernist artists as well as Western art works, such as Van Gogh, Matisse and Cézanne. He desired to bring to China the art practices from afar, and his experience and artistic vision would form the pillar of his activism and in the decades to follow, shape his legacy.
AN ADVOCATE IN WESTERN METHODOLOGIES
In February 1929, Liu was sponsored by the government to travel to Europe to study Western artists and their mode of learning (Fig. 6). Apart from visiting prestigious museums daily, Liu also took lessons in modelling and sketching. Upon a friend's encouragement, Liu submitted one of his works to the Salon, the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where his work was selected for exhibition 1929, and then in 1930.
During this time, Liu devoted his focus and energy to the study of 19th century western art, beginning with the Romantics, then shifting to Impressionism, studying works of Pissarro, Sisley and Renoir. Liu then poured his energy towards the later impressionists, to the fauvists and modernist, fully absorbing the essence of each movement and its individual expressions and ideas.
In between numerous travels to Europe including Germany (Fig. 7), Belgium and France where he met Picasso and Matisse, the artist had already climbed the paths of Mount Huang five times. Finding the old practice of learning by copying limiting for the mind, Liu advocated the importance of organized art theory and the exercise of art via direct observation, sketching and painting a subject from firsthand perception (Fig. 8). This belief most certainly provided the foundation for his trips to the mountain where he would paint from life, noting the changes in landscape and light according to the seasons and time of day. The teachings of Impressionism and Liu's reverence for Van Gogh and Cézanne is evident in his paintings from this period (Fig. 9).
Social and political changes at the turn of the 20th century in China greatly affected the traditional Chinese culture and the artistic expression of artists. Young artists began to change old ways of thinking, and pondered against questions of tradition and modernism, east and west. Globally, the birth of modernism on an international global scale heralded the wave of new art movements, with artists rejecting naturalism (realistic, physical world) and academic art, with its emphasis on classical traditions.
These pivotal years in China welcomed the flourishing of a new generation of students trained in Western techniques who were schooled in French Academic painting, Fauvism ,and Realism, naturally leading to a collaboration whereby these artists used Western and Chinese painting techniques together in an attempt to revive older classical traditions. As the leader at the forefront of this New Art movement, Liu frequently experimented in oils, watercolours and ink often using bold, crude lines to outline the vistas of the Anhui province. Documenting the mountain through sketching remained integral to his style, evident in this present lot, where each branch of a tree, or façade of a rock, are visible through a confident stroke of ink.
It was in 1954 on his sixth visit to Mount Huang, when his path crossed again with a former student, Li Keran and this fortuitous meeting ignited an exchange in ideas concerning the reformation of Chinese ink painting. Together these two artists honed their skill inspired by their shared love for art and nature.
A LOVE FOR MOUNT HUANG
Liu Haisu would continue to visit Mount Huang a number of times before his final stay in 1988, one year after this work was completed. His trips were always planned with one goal - to study the different aspects of the mountain in its entirety, drawing and sketching constantly, and it was in these years at an older age in which some of his best work were completed (Fig. 10).
It is truly remarkable this painting was done when the artist was 91 years of age. The strength and grace in the forms of the mountain reveal a man with in-depth knowledge and respect for each rocky outcrop, knowing how to manipulate the angle of the brush to reflect the natural gradient of the stone. The emphasis on looking firsthand and the importance of the sketch is clear from the detail of the broken tree hanging precariously off the cliff to the subtle asymmetry in the formation of this magnificent structure. From this painting, there is a sense of tranquility accentuated by the choice of colour palette conveyed via quick strokes to gradually build the atmospheric energy, reminiscent of the methods employed by the Impressionist painters. In its entirety this is a work that exhibits both Western painting styles with an understanding of Chinese ink painting developed by a man who was a visionary, credited for making the education and appreciation for art in China accessible to all.
His ten visits to Mount Huang were recorded as below:
1st Visit : 1918, aged 23
2nd Visit : early 1920's
3rd Visit : 1935, aged 40
4th Visit : 1936, aged 41
5th Visit : Winter of 1936, aged 41
6th Visit : 1954, aged 59 (Fig. 11)
7th Visit : 1980, aged 85
8th Visit : 1982, aged 86 (Fig. 12)
9th Visit : 1982, aged 87
10th Visit : 1988, aged 93 (Fig. 13)
everything. Art is the expression of an artist's personality, individuality and life."
– Liu Haisu
“…in broad strokes, loud red and tragic green, these striking colours soon were being used in all parts of the country following the growth of the art school. This greatly frightened those who tried to restore the old order.”
– Liu Haisu, “The Modern Chinese Painting as Observed in an Art Exhibition” Meizhan Huikan (Collected Writings of an Art Exhibition), April 1929.
Few can say they have visited Mount Huang ten times, fewer still can say they visited the famous mountain at the age of 92, yet this is exactly what Liu Haisu desired, one final opportunity to study the natural wonder which has been featured countlessly in his works during his career.
EARLY INFLUENCE
Liu was born into a distinguished family where education was a priority. His father had been an active participant of the Taiping Rebellion, his influential mother the granddaughter of a highly regarded economist and calligrapher of the Qing dynasty named Hong Liangji (Fig. 1). An emphasis on learning the arts was therefore instilled in him from an early age which saw him excel in the study of traditional Chinese painting and literature under the tutelage of Kang Youwei (Fig. 2), whom Liu regarded as his philosophical and artistic mentor - after the revolution of 1911, leading reformer Kang became a loyalist and began to apply to painting his principle of "reviving the old in order to evolve the new". He decried the free sketch (xieyi) style literati paintings of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties but approved of the meticulous detailed academic style that traces back to the Song dynasty. Kang Youwei also greatly admired Giuseppe Castiglione, propounding the slogan "integrate Chinese and Western to Develop a New Era of Painting".
Due to the passing of his mother and an unhappy marriage forced upon by his father, Liu desired to study overseas and travel to Japan. His father, who opposed this idea, suggested instead for him to set up an art school in Shanghai, and so, in 1909 at the age of 13, Liu set off to Shanghai.
A REVOLUTION IN THE MAKING
On 23rd November, 1912, at the age of 16, Liu Haisu, together with two friends, established the first art college in modern China known then as the Shanghai College of Graphic Art, later becoming the Shanghai Fine Arts School, which stood to become the most influential art school in China (Fig. 3). Important lecturers for Western art include Wang Jiyuan, Guan Liang, Pan Yuliang, while Chinese art lectueres included Huang Binhong, Zhang Daqian, Pan Tianshou. Liu also invited intellectuals to give talks, such as Cai Yuanpei, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and Guo Moruo (Fig. 4), with Liu interposing his own art direction through the contribution of essays and the establishment of the art paper in 1918.
Liu firmly believed that everyone was entitled to study art – the establishment of a purely arts-oriented establishment was a major contribution to the reformation of the education system in China, at a time when learning art and culture was restricted only to a closed group of intellectuals. This school was a crucial place for learning European art in pre-World War II China. Liu propounded democracy, freedom and sketching from observing nature (Fig. 5), and was the first to organize trips to surrounding rural areas to observe and take inspiration from nature.
The next few years were critical to Liu's development of his ideologies which saw him opening more art schools and pioneering both national and international art exhibits in the 1920s and 30s. Always vocal with his philosophies, he remained steadfast when facing moral objection to his practice of incorporating the Western idea of studying the nude female form at his schools, refusing to bow down to national criticism. In 1915 Liu introduced the first models to pose nude for his students, beginning a controversy that would span until 1927, where Liu was forced to head to Japan to avoid arrest. This opportunity enabled him to come face to face with Japanese modernist artists as well as Western art works, such as Van Gogh, Matisse and Cézanne. He desired to bring to China the art practices from afar, and his experience and artistic vision would form the pillar of his activism and in the decades to follow, shape his legacy.
AN ADVOCATE IN WESTERN METHODOLOGIES
In February 1929, Liu was sponsored by the government to travel to Europe to study Western artists and their mode of learning (Fig. 6). Apart from visiting prestigious museums daily, Liu also took lessons in modelling and sketching. Upon a friend's encouragement, Liu submitted one of his works to the Salon, the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where his work was selected for exhibition 1929, and then in 1930.
During this time, Liu devoted his focus and energy to the study of 19th century western art, beginning with the Romantics, then shifting to Impressionism, studying works of Pissarro, Sisley and Renoir. Liu then poured his energy towards the later impressionists, to the fauvists and modernist, fully absorbing the essence of each movement and its individual expressions and ideas.
In between numerous travels to Europe including Germany (Fig. 7), Belgium and France where he met Picasso and Matisse, the artist had already climbed the paths of Mount Huang five times. Finding the old practice of learning by copying limiting for the mind, Liu advocated the importance of organized art theory and the exercise of art via direct observation, sketching and painting a subject from firsthand perception (Fig. 8). This belief most certainly provided the foundation for his trips to the mountain where he would paint from life, noting the changes in landscape and light according to the seasons and time of day. The teachings of Impressionism and Liu's reverence for Van Gogh and Cézanne is evident in his paintings from this period (Fig. 9).
Social and political changes at the turn of the 20th century in China greatly affected the traditional Chinese culture and the artistic expression of artists. Young artists began to change old ways of thinking, and pondered against questions of tradition and modernism, east and west. Globally, the birth of modernism on an international global scale heralded the wave of new art movements, with artists rejecting naturalism (realistic, physical world) and academic art, with its emphasis on classical traditions.
These pivotal years in China welcomed the flourishing of a new generation of students trained in Western techniques who were schooled in French Academic painting, Fauvism ,and Realism, naturally leading to a collaboration whereby these artists used Western and Chinese painting techniques together in an attempt to revive older classical traditions. As the leader at the forefront of this New Art movement, Liu frequently experimented in oils, watercolours and ink often using bold, crude lines to outline the vistas of the Anhui province. Documenting the mountain through sketching remained integral to his style, evident in this present lot, where each branch of a tree, or façade of a rock, are visible through a confident stroke of ink.
It was in 1954 on his sixth visit to Mount Huang, when his path crossed again with a former student, Li Keran and this fortuitous meeting ignited an exchange in ideas concerning the reformation of Chinese ink painting. Together these two artists honed their skill inspired by their shared love for art and nature.
A LOVE FOR MOUNT HUANG
Liu Haisu would continue to visit Mount Huang a number of times before his final stay in 1988, one year after this work was completed. His trips were always planned with one goal - to study the different aspects of the mountain in its entirety, drawing and sketching constantly, and it was in these years at an older age in which some of his best work were completed (Fig. 10).
It is truly remarkable this painting was done when the artist was 91 years of age. The strength and grace in the forms of the mountain reveal a man with in-depth knowledge and respect for each rocky outcrop, knowing how to manipulate the angle of the brush to reflect the natural gradient of the stone. The emphasis on looking firsthand and the importance of the sketch is clear from the detail of the broken tree hanging precariously off the cliff to the subtle asymmetry in the formation of this magnificent structure. From this painting, there is a sense of tranquility accentuated by the choice of colour palette conveyed via quick strokes to gradually build the atmospheric energy, reminiscent of the methods employed by the Impressionist painters. In its entirety this is a work that exhibits both Western painting styles with an understanding of Chinese ink painting developed by a man who was a visionary, credited for making the education and appreciation for art in China accessible to all.
His ten visits to Mount Huang were recorded as below:
1st Visit : 1918, aged 23
2nd Visit : early 1920's
3rd Visit : 1935, aged 40
4th Visit : 1936, aged 41
5th Visit : Winter of 1936, aged 41
6th Visit : 1954, aged 59 (Fig. 11)
7th Visit : 1980, aged 85
8th Visit : 1982, aged 86 (Fig. 12)
9th Visit : 1982, aged 87
10th Visit : 1988, aged 93 (Fig. 13)