Pioneers of Modernism: A Selection from The Scheeres Collection Fang Lijun Follow Series 2 No.10 1992-1993 signed and dated 'Fang Lijun [in Chinese] 1992-1993' on the reverse oil on canvas 70.1 x 116.4 cm. (27 5/8 x 45 7/8 in.) Painted in 1992-1993.
Provenance Serieuze Zaken Gallery, Amsterdam Private Collection, The Netherlands Acquired from the above by the present owner Exhibited Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt; Rotterdam, Kunsthal; Oxford, The Museum of Modern Art (presently Modern Art Oxford); Odense, Kunsthallen Brandts Klædefabrik; Roemer-und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim, China Avant-Garde: Counter-Currents in Art and Culture , 30 January 1993 – 27 November 1994 Literature Jochen Noth, Kai Reschke and Wolfger Poehlmann eds., China Avant-Garde: Counter-Currents in Art and Culture , Berlin, 1994, p. 323 Carol Lu, Living Like a Wild Dog: 1963-2008 Archival Exhibition of Fang Lijun , Taipei, 2009, p. 218 (illustrated) Endlessness of Life: 25 Years Retrospect of Fang Lijun , exh. cat., Taipei, 2009, p. 218 (illustrated) Peng Lu and Chun Liu, Fang Lijun: Works Catalogue , Beijing, 2010, p. 239 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay Known for his depictions of rebellious bald-headed figures embodying the unique psychological state of a rising generation in modern China, Fang Lijun created Series 2 No. 10 in 1992, just as the artist was becoming critically renowned in the international art world as a leading figure of China’s new modern art movement. Responding to the trauma resulting from his having grown up during the Cultural Revolution, Fang creates works that engage with a profound sense of disenchantment and disillusionment affecting an entire generation especially following the aftermath of the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989. In the early 1990s, Fang was named by Li Xianting, an art critic and inventor of the term “Cynical Realism,” as a key figure of the movement. (J. Supangkat, ‘China Avant-Garde and Contemporary Art,’ in Fang L.J. and A. Ochs, Fang Lijun: Life Is Now [in conjunction with Fang Lijun's Solo Exhibition at the National Gallery, Jakarta, 10 May - 18 May 2006])Though the style of Cynical Realism has been characterised by a “mix of ennui and rogue humour,” Karen Smith accentuates that what sets Fang’s paintings apart, is his work being rooted in the human condition rather than in politics. (Ben Davidson quoted by K. MacMillan, ‘Fang Lijun: the Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar’ Artforum International , November 2007; K. Smith and M. Brouwer, Nine Lives: The Birth Of Avant-Garde Art In New China , 2010) His works created in 1992 in particular attracted global attention, earning him invitations to some of the most prestigious exhibitions including the 1993 and 1999 Venice Biennale and the 1994 São Paulo Biennial. Coming from a series of only eleven works, paintings from Series 2 have been collected by such key institutions as the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany, and Fukuoka Art Museum, as well as by major private collectors. A work never before seen on the market, Series 2 No. 10 is from a series that very infrequently becomes available to potential collectors. Augmenting the rarity and singularity of this work, the present lot provides the only circumstance in which a painting from the much-admired 1992 series highlights the artist’s female acquaintance in the foreground as a keystone figure. Offering a plethora of visual information not present in other works from the series, this dynamic painting showcases the woman as a central figure with her palms pressed together beside her face showing a slightly provocative expression emphasised by her subtle smile and knowing eyes. With her long neck and elegantly reserved composure, she is flanked by two robust men, one laughing and the other smiling demurely, amidst a backdrop of rippling blue water dotted with three bald figures emerging from the ocean gasping for air. Modelled after the artist himself, imagery of the bald-headed figure whether yawning, grinning, or staring vacantly, have echoed throughout Fang’s works since 1989 as a symbol of popi , a term borrowed from a Chinese folk adage signifying a rogue or punk character. Critic Li Xianting examines Fang’s recurring shaved head motif in relation to
Pioneers of Modernism: A Selection from The Scheeres Collection Fang Lijun Follow Series 2 No.10 1992-1993 signed and dated 'Fang Lijun [in Chinese] 1992-1993' on the reverse oil on canvas 70.1 x 116.4 cm. (27 5/8 x 45 7/8 in.) Painted in 1992-1993.
Provenance Serieuze Zaken Gallery, Amsterdam Private Collection, The Netherlands Acquired from the above by the present owner Exhibited Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt; Rotterdam, Kunsthal; Oxford, The Museum of Modern Art (presently Modern Art Oxford); Odense, Kunsthallen Brandts Klædefabrik; Roemer-und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim, China Avant-Garde: Counter-Currents in Art and Culture , 30 January 1993 – 27 November 1994 Literature Jochen Noth, Kai Reschke and Wolfger Poehlmann eds., China Avant-Garde: Counter-Currents in Art and Culture , Berlin, 1994, p. 323 Carol Lu, Living Like a Wild Dog: 1963-2008 Archival Exhibition of Fang Lijun , Taipei, 2009, p. 218 (illustrated) Endlessness of Life: 25 Years Retrospect of Fang Lijun , exh. cat., Taipei, 2009, p. 218 (illustrated) Peng Lu and Chun Liu, Fang Lijun: Works Catalogue , Beijing, 2010, p. 239 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay Known for his depictions of rebellious bald-headed figures embodying the unique psychological state of a rising generation in modern China, Fang Lijun created Series 2 No. 10 in 1992, just as the artist was becoming critically renowned in the international art world as a leading figure of China’s new modern art movement. Responding to the trauma resulting from his having grown up during the Cultural Revolution, Fang creates works that engage with a profound sense of disenchantment and disillusionment affecting an entire generation especially following the aftermath of the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989. In the early 1990s, Fang was named by Li Xianting, an art critic and inventor of the term “Cynical Realism,” as a key figure of the movement. (J. Supangkat, ‘China Avant-Garde and Contemporary Art,’ in Fang L.J. and A. Ochs, Fang Lijun: Life Is Now [in conjunction with Fang Lijun's Solo Exhibition at the National Gallery, Jakarta, 10 May - 18 May 2006])Though the style of Cynical Realism has been characterised by a “mix of ennui and rogue humour,” Karen Smith accentuates that what sets Fang’s paintings apart, is his work being rooted in the human condition rather than in politics. (Ben Davidson quoted by K. MacMillan, ‘Fang Lijun: the Laboratory of Art and Ideas at Belmar’ Artforum International , November 2007; K. Smith and M. Brouwer, Nine Lives: The Birth Of Avant-Garde Art In New China , 2010) His works created in 1992 in particular attracted global attention, earning him invitations to some of the most prestigious exhibitions including the 1993 and 1999 Venice Biennale and the 1994 São Paulo Biennial. Coming from a series of only eleven works, paintings from Series 2 have been collected by such key institutions as the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany, and Fukuoka Art Museum, as well as by major private collectors. A work never before seen on the market, Series 2 No. 10 is from a series that very infrequently becomes available to potential collectors. Augmenting the rarity and singularity of this work, the present lot provides the only circumstance in which a painting from the much-admired 1992 series highlights the artist’s female acquaintance in the foreground as a keystone figure. Offering a plethora of visual information not present in other works from the series, this dynamic painting showcases the woman as a central figure with her palms pressed together beside her face showing a slightly provocative expression emphasised by her subtle smile and knowing eyes. With her long neck and elegantly reserved composure, she is flanked by two robust men, one laughing and the other smiling demurely, amidst a backdrop of rippling blue water dotted with three bald figures emerging from the ocean gasping for air. Modelled after the artist himself, imagery of the bald-headed figure whether yawning, grinning, or staring vacantly, have echoed throughout Fang’s works since 1989 as a symbol of popi , a term borrowed from a Chinese folk adage signifying a rogue or punk character. Critic Li Xianting examines Fang’s recurring shaved head motif in relation to
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
