Sold for €6,500
including Buyer's Premium
China. Ink and watercolors on paper. Mounted as a hanging scroll with finely carved and lacquered wood handles. Superbly painted with two black pigs standing foursquare side by side below a tree, one with its head raised and turned to the side. The top left corner with a text written in calligraphy about the two pigs.
Inscriptions: Inscribed and signed with ‘Shuqi and Beihong in Chengdu, in the twenty-sixth year of the Republic era (corresponding to 1937) and two seals, ‘Shuqi’ and ‘Donghai Wang Sun’. Lower left, a collector’s seal, ‘Zuhou Yingnan’. Lower right, one seal.
Provenance: A noted private collector. Previously sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, Admiralty, Chinese Paintings, March 2022, lot 22, for HKD 38,000 or approx. EUR 5,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few water stains with associated small touchups. The handles with minuscule chips.
Dimensions: Image size 115 x 50 cm, Size incl. mounting 205 x 62.5 cm
Xu Beihong (1895-1953) was a Chinese painter, born in rural Yixing during the late Qing dynasty. He began studying classic Chinese works and calligraphy at the age of six, with his father Xu Dazhang, a private school teacher, and Chinese painting at the age of nine. Beihong started from very humble beginnings to become one of the most sought-after, admired and influential painters of China. One of his well-known works, the “Cultivation of the Peaceful Land”, sold for 27.4 million euro in 2011 and therefore ranks among the most expensive paintings in the world. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xu became president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of the China Artists Association. Xu Beihong, together with Zhang Shuqi and Liu Zigu, were called the "Three Masters of Jinling (Nanjing)." Xu Beihong was a master of both oil and ink paintings. Most of his works, however, were in the Chinese traditional style. In his efforts to create a new form of national art, he combined Chinese brush and ink techniques with Western perspective and methods of composition. He integrated firm and bold brush strokes with the precise delineation of form. As an art teacher, he advocated the subordination of technique to artistic conception and emphasized the importance of the artist's experiences in life. Of all the painters of the modern era, it can be safely said that Xu is the one most responsible for the direction taken in the modern Chinese Art World.
Zhang Shuqi (1899-1956) was a Chinese painter from Zhejiang, noted for painting flowers and birds. He studied at Shanghai under Liu Haisu. He temporarily taught at the National Center University. From 1942 to 1946, he lived in the United States. After that, he returned to China for a time, but ultimately settled in the US. His works are held in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Ashmolean Museum, and Stanford University.
Literature comparison:
Compare a painting of two pigs by Xu Beihong, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2012, lot 2591. Compare the closely related depiction of the pigs, with similarly painted snouts and tails. Note the smaller size (89.5 x 53.5 cm).
China. Ink and watercolors on paper. Mounted as a hanging scroll with finely carved and lacquered wood handles. Superbly painted with two black pigs standing foursquare side by side below a tree, one with its head raised and turned to the side. The top left corner with a text written in calligraphy about the two pigs.
Inscriptions: Inscribed and signed with ‘Shuqi and Beihong in Chengdu, in the twenty-sixth year of the Republic era (corresponding to 1937) and two seals, ‘Shuqi’ and ‘Donghai Wang Sun’. Lower left, a collector’s seal, ‘Zuhou Yingnan’. Lower right, one seal.
Provenance: A noted private collector. Previously sold at Bonhams, Hong Kong, Admiralty, Chinese Paintings, March 2022, lot 22, for HKD 38,000 or approx. EUR 5,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few water stains with associated small touchups. The handles with minuscule chips.
Dimensions: Image size 115 x 50 cm, Size incl. mounting 205 x 62.5 cm
Xu Beihong (1895-1953) was a Chinese painter, born in rural Yixing during the late Qing dynasty. He began studying classic Chinese works and calligraphy at the age of six, with his father Xu Dazhang, a private school teacher, and Chinese painting at the age of nine. Beihong started from very humble beginnings to become one of the most sought-after, admired and influential painters of China. One of his well-known works, the “Cultivation of the Peaceful Land”, sold for 27.4 million euro in 2011 and therefore ranks among the most expensive paintings in the world. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xu became president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of the China Artists Association. Xu Beihong, together with Zhang Shuqi and Liu Zigu, were called the "Three Masters of Jinling (Nanjing)." Xu Beihong was a master of both oil and ink paintings. Most of his works, however, were in the Chinese traditional style. In his efforts to create a new form of national art, he combined Chinese brush and ink techniques with Western perspective and methods of composition. He integrated firm and bold brush strokes with the precise delineation of form. As an art teacher, he advocated the subordination of technique to artistic conception and emphasized the importance of the artist's experiences in life. Of all the painters of the modern era, it can be safely said that Xu is the one most responsible for the direction taken in the modern Chinese Art World.
Zhang Shuqi (1899-1956) was a Chinese painter from Zhejiang, noted for painting flowers and birds. He studied at Shanghai under Liu Haisu. He temporarily taught at the National Center University. From 1942 to 1946, he lived in the United States. After that, he returned to China for a time, but ultimately settled in the US. His works are held in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Ashmolean Museum, and Stanford University.
Literature comparison:
Compare a painting of two pigs by Xu Beihong, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 November 2012, lot 2591. Compare the closely related depiction of the pigs, with similarly painted snouts and tails. Note the smaller size (89.5 x 53.5 cm).
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