Lot 1377: YANG FEIYUN

YANG FEIYUN
(B. 1954)
Portrait of a Lady
signed in Chinese; dated '1986.5' (middle right)
oil on canvas
78.7 x 63.5 cm. (31 x 25 in.)
Painted in 1986

Gift from the artist to the present owner in the mid 1980s
Private Collection, USA

Yang Feiyun once said "only when valuing one's cultural roots, intergrating elements of both Western classical and modern art shall one's art become mature." For Yang, whether or not classical painting was something old fashioned depended on the new creativity it inspired, Yang Feiyun's artistic concepts combine his personal experiences, a keen awareness of his surroundings and the essence of Chinese culture.

Melancholy (Lot 1378) and Portrait of a Lady (Lot 1377), the early works of Yang Feiyun, fully display his preference of depicting figures in an interior space. Yang creates a tranquil atmosphere in both paintings by using a warm colour palette. By carefully deliberating over the facial and physical gestures of the figures and creating a purposeful relationship between the figures and the structural elements, Yang forms a lively, rhythmic composition. By omitting elaborate details, he draws the viewer's attention to the figures themselves. In Melancholy, Yang captures the instant the lady turns to look at the viewer, a transient and dramatic moment often found in photographs. Yang Feiyun once commented that "I endeavor to solidify the moment the figure moves to convey a feeling of eternity and vitality. This is closely tied to my love of classical paintings, in which painted motion is more aesthetically appealing than painted stillness."