Lot  191 Ravenel Autumn Auction 2011 Taipei

Ravenel Autumn Auction 2011 Taipei

Red Rocks

ZHOU Chunya (Chinese, 1955)

1994

Oil on canvas

72.5 x 61 cm

Estimate

TWD 2,200,000-3,200,000

HKD 537,000-780,000

USD 70,200-102,100

Sold Price

TWD 5,040,000

HKD 1,298,969

USD 167,164


Signature

Signed lower right Zhou Chunya in Chinese and dated 1994

Signed on the reverse Zhou Chunya in Chinese and dated 1994

+ OVERVIEW

The brushwork for mountain rock is a very important category for Chinese traditional landscape paintings. It has five approaches in respect to tick, crimple, rub, dye and dot. The form and the structure of mountain rock decide the expression of the painting methods, and in turn, different styles and genres are formed. The historical observation of natural phenomena by ancient painters has reigned a set of writing symbols, depicting the traditional Chinese rocks in a profound miracle. Zhou Chunya's artworks feature the usage of colors in contradiction to nature. Early in the 1990s, Zhou Chunya painted such themes as flowers, mountains, and rocks in the painting style and with the skills of German New Expressionism, using colors boldly to add extraordinary splendor to his paintings. Thick and flamboyant red colors give new interpretations to mountains, rocks and flowers, which show a completely different outlook and color compared to those in nature and are arranged in large blank areas with simplified brushstrokes. The abstract and independent images are covered by an accumulation of thick layers of paint, implying their ambiguous nature and explaining the painter's characteristics such as gentleness, introversion, and laziness.

In "Red Rocks", Zhou Chunya applies rose and black to serve as a foil, and thick and superb red in contrast to the porcelain white. The attractive stones resemble trance-like meatballs, and warm and serene blood clots. The piling, rendering, painting and mixing of paints strengthen the impact of the colors, and have formed an abstract and eye-catching design of images. The overall paintings, from the colors to the composition, provide a feeling of ghost-like freedom and easiness.

Related Info

Modern & Contemporary Asian Art

Ravenel Autumn Auction 2011 Taipei

Sunday, December 4, 2011, 2:30pm