Lot 1702: LIEN CHIEN-HSING

LIEN CHIEN-HSING
(B. 1962)
A Typhoon Night
signed in Chinese; dated '1988' (upper right); signed and inscribed in Chinese; dated '1988 1988.5.23' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
129.8 x 233.5 cm. (51 1/8 x 91 7/8 in.)
Painted in 1988

Taipei, Taiwan, Eslite Gallery, Lien Chien-Hsing, 1993.

Eslite Gallery, Lien Chien-Hsing, exh. cat., Taipei, Taiwan, 1993 (illustrated, plate 35, pp. 74-75).

Private collection, Asia

In the early eighties Lien Chien-hsing distinguished himself from his contemporaries with his unique style of Magical Realism and celebratory representation of the natural wonders and introspection of human civilization. In the large A Typhoon Night (Lot 1702), created in 1988, the artist has depicted a spectacular scene of water spilling out in the typhoon night. At first glance, it is an ordinary scene of water flowing from the reservoir. Upon closer inspection, the intricate patterning of dark colours and layered form of the reservoir are reminiscent of patterns from ancient cultures. The magnificence and resoluteness of nature has been implied by the artist's depiction of turbulent water. He suggests that no matter how advanced technology may be nature will always break free from the barrier of artificial construction and find its way back into the wild.