Lot 621: YAN ZHENDUO

YAN ZHENDUO B. 1940 SEA BREEZE signed in Chinese and dated 1992 (lower left); titled in Chinese (reverse) Executed in 1992 oil on canvas 80.5 by 60 cm.; 31 3/4 by 23 5/8 in.

Hong Kong, Zee Stone Gallery, Northern Gardens, Southern Waterways. Oil Paintings by Yan Zhenduo, 1992

Northern Gardens, Southern Waterways. Oil Paintings by Yan Zhenduo, Hong Kong, 1992, Zee Stone Gallery, Illustration 30

Zee Stone Gallery, Hong Kong
Private Asian Collection

Yan Zhenduo was born in Hebei in 1940. In 1963 he graduated from the Beijing Academy of Fine Arts where he studied under the tutelage of Wu Guanzhong. He later graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1968 and went on to found the Beijing Oil Painting Society in 1979. Wu Guanzhong once commented that if "Yan Zhenduo's works were placed side by side with works of famous Western artists, they [would] compare favorably" [1]. Reminiscent of Nicolas De Staël, Yan expresses his emotions through vibrant, block-like slabs of colour. He successfully combines Western abstraction with Chinese aesthetics – in his work the functions of form, line, colour and tone supersede the importance of objective representation. [2] The work in this sale, Sea Breeze, was inspired by the people and landscapes of Bali, where Yan spent time with his fellow classmate and artist, Cao Dali. Although the lyrical lines of the nude are juxtaposed with geometric blocks of colour in the background, she is still at one with her surroundings; the natural movement of her hair moves seamlessly into the background space, merging into abstraction.



[1] Wu Guanzhong "Foreword", in Northern Gardens, Southern Waterways, Zeestone Gallery, 1992
[2] Hilary Binks, Cao Dali and Yan Zhenduo at Zee Stone Gallery, Asian Art News, Volume 7, Number 6, November/December, 1997, p.83