The first painting:
Wu Guanzhong Honglian Beijing Poly 2017 Spring Auction Estimated 32.775 million
Work Appreciation
Wu Guanzhong has always liked to paint lotus flowers. In the "Wu Guanzhong's Painting Collection" published in the 1990s, he once praised the lotus flowers and said: "The soft flowers have unique temperament and the redness of those who are proud of the fragrance are a bit wild and drunk." The earliest lotus flowers I see at present were written around 1973, including watercolor paintings and oil paintings. In the more than 20 years of exploration, he wandered between realistic and freehand painting, and between abstract and concrete, integrating ink painting and oil painting techniques, and depicting various forms of lotus flowers. This painting "Red Lotus" was written in 1974. From this year on, Wu Guanzhong began to paint ink and wash in addition to oil painting creation. The freehand factor of ink and wash gradually penetrated into works with oil painting as the medium. This influence can be seen from a series of lotus works created by Wu Guanzhong in the early 1970s, and this influence is also two-way.
Wu Guanzhong Honglian Partial
Review of the work "Red Lotus", the picture composition is full, focusing the visual focus on a corner of the lotus pond, with the upper and lower empty water surface contrasting with the dense lotus leaves. Although lotus leaves are dense, they are not monotonous. When the painter expresses the stems, they are given various postures, either high or low, straight or slightly curved. The most elegant lotus leaf is placed in the middle of the picture. It is poked out from the water, detours to the right, and then stands upright. Large lotus leaves spread out, surrounded by lotus leaves and lotus flowers of all sizes. This graceful and moving posture appears frequently in traditional Chinese literati paintings. The painter obviously learns from the former and shows the most charming scene in the lotus pond as much as possible.
Wu Guanzhong Honglian Local
"Red Lotus" full color is green, but most of them have changes. The distance, height, light, dark, dry, wet, and withering and flourishing of lotus leaves are expressed in green with different brightness and color levels, either green, purple, blue, or gray. The overall content has a subtle and rich sense of layering, showing a colorful microscopic world in the same color system. The lotus flowers in the painting are soft and beautiful, and the flowers are drawn in a similar freehand way, with concise brushstrokes, focusing on expressing colors and styles. The water surface is clear and gentle, reflecting the reflection of lotus and lotus stems. This method of water surface transmission and the use of heavy oil color to express the texture of objects undoubtedly absorbs the impressionist drawing method, especially the way Monet treats water lily . Wu Guanzhong studied in Paris and carefully studied the optical theory and color techniques of Impressionism. He combined the color viewing effect of impression with the freehand spirit of Chinese ink painting to show the unique style of lotus.
Wu Guanzhong Red Lotus Partial
From this painting "Red Lotus", we can see Wu Guanzhong's unremitting exploration of the nationalization of oil paintings, and then incorporates ink and wash elements into oil paintings, seeking modernization in ink and wash paintings, and ultimately forming a personalized and new artistic language. In Monet's Water Lily Series, the artist is concerned about the changes in light and color of the water lily during different time periods, as well as the reflection and refraction of the water surface. The gorgeous environmental color is a very important factor in Monet's works. But from this picture, he did not make the environmental colors in nature have too much impact, but instead sought subtle changes in the basic tones of objects. He also depicts the changes in light, but the light floating on the lotus leaves is soft and faint, not the bright light in Impressionist paintings. The reflection of the water surface is a blue-gray tone that maps the sky, and is in the same color as the lotus leaves. The overall tone of the picture is cold, rendering a silent and elegant poetic feeling. The interspersed with a few red lotus in the large green are both embellishments and contrasts, which not only brightens the picture but also avoids the scattered people. Therefore, if Monet's water lilies win by color, Wu Guanzhong wins by a combination of line and surface. The interweaving of lotus leaves, lotus stems and lotus flowers creates a rich formal interest. This expression undoubtedly comes from Chinese painting. Whether it is exquisite fine brushwork lotus or free and easy freehand lotus, they all pursue this formal expression.Wu Guanzhong himself once said: "The interlaced large and small leaves in the lotus pond are interlaced with complex curves and lines. Even the reflections are surrounded by the leaves, making it difficult to distinguish between water and underwater. It seems that I am just an insect at the bottom of the leaves, lost in the maze of flowers and leaves."
"Lotus coming out of the water", "legacy", "The lotus is red in the sun", "The mud is not stained", "The wind and rain are messing with the remaining lotus"... How many poems and paintings have been bred in the lotus pond, it is difficult to estimate how many poems and paintings have been nurtured in the lotus pond. The lotus leaves seem square and round, large or small, and the edges are often curved like skirts, with a graceful posture; the stems are upright and the buds are tightly wrapped; the blooming flowers attract the sunshine, bear the rain and dew, and the tender yellow stamens are exposed, without any shyness. No wonder the cow-herding Wang Mian lies beside the pond to sketch the lotus, and can't help it. ——Wu Guanzhong
work information
author Wu Guanzhong (1919~2010)
size 54×73cm
work classification Western painting sculpture oil painting
creation time 1974
estimated valuation RMB 15,000,000-25,000,000
transaction price RMB 32,775,000
second painting:
Wu Guanzhong Honglian Poly Hong Kong 2017 spring auction The transaction price is HK$24.78 million
works appreciation
Wu Guanzhong's style in the 1990s turned to
The mid-1990s became a period of great fruitful results for Wu Guanzhong. Artists have frequent overseas exhibitions and have held large-scale solo exhibitions in important institutions, including Europe, Singapore, , Indonesia, and other places, and published many important albums and collections. Wu Guanzhong also has a broader vision and a free attitude in his creation. At this time, he no longer pays attention to detailed portrayal like landscape paintings in the 1970s, and no longer insists on completing his creations on site. Instead, he transforms his sketches of the scenery into oil color creation.
Wu Guanzhong Honglian Partial
Wu Guanzhong's oil painting creation in the 1990s showed an important style turn. Although he inherited the description of landscape images in the past, he adopted a more abstract and freehand way to simplify the realistic details of the scenery, but highlighted the geometric abstract beauty contained in the scenery. When creating aesthetic experience, artists also paid more attention to the rhythm, artistic conception, and spiritual perception of the picture, making the expression connotation of Chinese landscape paintings more perfect. "Red Lotus" (Lot 134) is one of the representative works that clearly reflect this type of style turn and achievements.
"Lotus coming out of the water", "Grand and graceful", "Lotus flowers are red in the sun", "Without stained with mud", "Wind and rain chaotic lotus"... How many poems and paintings have been nurtured in the lotus pond, it is difficult to estimate. The lotus leaves seem square and round, large or small, and the edges are often curved like skirts, with a graceful posture; the stems are upright and the buds are tightly wrapped; the blooming flowers attract the sunshine, bear the rain and dew, and the tender yellow stamens are exposed, without any shyness. No wonder Wang Mian, who was herding cattle, leaned by the pond to sketch the lotus, and couldn't help it.
-Wu Guanzhong's "Lotus Pond"
local
"Red Lotus" was created in 1996. Unlike the almost abstract lines and sparse and dense compositions in the colorful and ink-like structure "Lotus Pond", Wu Guanzhong adopts partial descriptions in "Red Lotus" and presents natural images with more diverse brushstroke forms. In the center of the picture is a blooming red lotus, and under the layers of petals, the "middle and straight outside, no vines or branches" are highlighted in Zhou Dunyi's " Love Lotus Talk ". Large pieces of blue and green lotus leaves are covered with color blocks, highlighting the pink buds and yellow-brown dry lotus pods. Compared with oil painting works in the 1970s, Wu Guanzhong has deliberately simplified the objects here, with the tones being more colorful and full and thicker than in the early days. Green oil paintings have subtle changes, presenting the front and back levels of branches and leaves and the distance between the far and near space. It can be seen that Wu Guanzhong has experienced abstract style creation, and has returned to the discussion of concrete scenery through the disassembly of elements such as points, lines, and surfaces. The different interpretations of flat modeling language and spatial depth have once again created a new visual vocabulary.
Wu Guanzhong Honglian Local
Breakthrough in brushstroke style
Wu Guanzhong presents more breakthroughs in brushstroke style and color texture, conveying the structural beauty he pursues "beauty is beauty in line and staggered". "Red Lotus" can especially reveal the artist's aesthetic thinking in the 1990s, emphasize the rhythm and dynamic of the picture, and simulate the rich texture of the lotus with concise and straightforward brushstroke images, full of life's momentum, and is filled with the joyful atmosphere of midsummer. During this period, Wu Guanzhong paid more attention to highlighting the geometric forms hidden by the scenery. Various color dots and stamens form dots, lotus stems form lines, lotus leaves form various color surfaces. The three form a balanced composition with strong tension, and are freehand brushwork of ink and wash, showing the abstract style of geometric elements. While presenting the style of abstract form, Wu Guanzhong still retains a concrete and realistic image, which perfectly interprets the creative concept of "Kites are constantly strung". Wu Guanzhong first proposed "the masses nodded and experts applauded" in the 1970s, and it matured into "the kite kept stringing" around 1983. "Red Lotus" cleverly integrates abstract and concrete styles, becoming a concrete expression and achievement of the artist's aesthetic concepts, reflecting a perfect example of the integration of Chinese and Western aesthetics, and creating a unique path in the history of modern and contemporary Chinese art.
From the description of landscape to the creation of landscape, from realistic to the writing of emotions
Wu Guanzhong Red Lotus Local
"Red Lotus" uses a stable triangle composition to lay out the picture, emphasizing the red lotus in the center in the layout. Wu Guanzhong depicts the layered lotus leaves shape a tight structure, the color points and color surfaces intertwined, and the curved or straight lotus stems just run through different blocks of the picture, making the landscape show staggered changes. The three of them form a uniformly shaped and flexible geometric structure beauty. The combination of various lines and geometric surfaces shows a jumping and agile picture dynamic, which is the "aura" and vitality that Wu Guanzhong has been pursuing. Wu Guanzhong deviated from the creative direction of sketching, realism, and even Impressionism to capture the changes in external light, and instead recombined the image with subjective feelings. In addition to reorganizing the landscape, he can also emphasize specific and subjective beauty in landscapes. From describing landscape to landscaping, from realistic to writing emotions, according to Wu Guanzhong's own statement, it is from Western Impressionism to "Search all the strange peaks to make drafts" by Shitao, China. "Red Lotus" uses one of the most popular themes written by traditional Chinese literati, revealing the artist's deep meaning under the beauty of the picture form, expanding the depth and breadth of landscape creation.
Work information
Author Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010)
Size 91×60cm
Work classification Western painting sculpture oil painting
Creation time 1996
Estimated price HKD 15,000,000-25,000,000
Sold price RMB 22,078,980 HKD 24,780,000
Model: Tu Jiuliu (lower left); Honglian Wu Guanzhong 1996 (back of the painting)
