Lot 923: Blue and White Horse

XU LEI (B. 1963) Blue and White Horse Scroll, mounted and framed Ink and colour on paper 63.5 x 97.5 cm. (25 x 38 3/8 in.) Executed in 2002

63.5 x 97.5 cm.

Directly acquired by the present owner from the artist in 2006.

Horses are common motif in the traditional Chinese painting genre, but no artist has chosen the conundrum of colours and symbols as Xu Lei, who bravely developed his unique artistic language as unmistakably Chinese, yet with fascination in Western medieval art, surrealism, and conceptualism. A seemingly simplistic composition consisting of the sky, a quiet body of water, and a white horse, Blue and White Horse evokes both tranquillity and bewilderment. With a strong influence by Song dynasty painting, Xu renders the horse using gongbi technique in a realistic manner. Deprived of its original symbolic meaning of energy and vitality, the horse stands still in the water and is transformed into a somewhat inanimate aesthetic object with a blue and white pattern on its back. For Xu, this pattern is not merely a symbol of oriental culture. In many artist's statements and interviews, he relates this porcelain decorating technique to tattoo, which is a device to call to mind memories and experiences. Resembling a staged act, the composition is typical of Xu's oeuvre where concealment plays an important role in the interaction between the artist and the viewer. The estranged relationship between the various elements and the many unanswered questions regarding their co-existence endow the painting with mystery that lies beyond this beautiful facade.