Pioneers of Modernism: A Selection from The Scheeres Collection Fang Lijun Follow 1994 No. 4 1994 signed, titled and dated 'Fang Lijun [in Chinese] "94 No.4"' lower left; further signed, titled and dated 'Fang Lijun [in Chinese] "1994. No.4" 1994.1-1995.2' on the reverse oil on canvas 140 x 179.8 cm. (55 1/8 x 70 3/4 in.) Painted in January 1994-February 1995.
Provenance Serieuze Zaken Gallery, Amsterdam Collection of Fezi Kahlesi, The Netherlands Acquired from the above by the present owner Literature Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House ed., Collected Editions of Chinese Oil Painter Volume of Fang Lijun , Sichuan, 2006, p.64 (illustrated) Carol Lu, Living Like a Wild Dog: 1963-2008 Archive Exhibition of Fang Lijun , Taipei, 2009, p. 228 (illustrated) Tingmei Wang and Ruxuan Xie eds., Endlessness of Life: 25 Years Retrospect of Fang Lijun , exh. cat., Taipei, 2009, p.228 (illustrated) Peng Lu and Chun Liu, Fang Lijun: Works Catalogue , Beijing, 2010, p. 262 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay As one of two paintings created by Fang Lijun offered in the present sale, 1994 No. 4 presents a key artwork from the artist’s meditative 1994 blue Swimming series, a concise body of works that has been particularly well-received by an international audience for its universal layering of meanings. Acclaimed by critic Li Xianting as a pioneer alongside Liu Wei of Cynical Realism, Fang creates fictional and ambiguous narratives to examine the shift in China. His works personify sentiments of enervation and angst as a tool to describe the radical change from a collective sense of self-sacrifice to the contemporary state of individualism. (V. Tong, ‘Chinese Cynical Realism: Fang Lijun and his ‘All Too Human World,’ Art Radar , 27 November 2017) As a leading figure of China’s avant-garde art movement, Fang has been featured in several historical exhibitions including the 1994 22nd International São Paulo Biennial, one of the earliest exhibitions to bring contemporary Chinese art to a global audience, in which the artist showcased 1994 No. 6, an important early work from the same series as the present lot. First rendered in 1988 as a breakaway from the ‘85 New Wave Movement, the anonymous bald figure depicted in 1994 No. 4 represents a hallmark of Fang’s artistic vocabulary. “I noticed that although a shaved head on its own is very striking, its individuality disappears in a group of shaved heads,” Fang explains. In the present work however, the anonymity afforded by the group setting is replaced by the inundating water that obscures any signs of the figure’s identity and further emphasises his isolation. This underscores Fang’s notion that “an individual person’s feeling of being omitted and ignored in society is especially strong in our culture.” Depicting one of Fang’s many anonymous bald-headed figures submerged in a body of deep blue water, 1994 No. 4 illustrates the artist’s recurrent fascination with the theme of water. In Laozi’s philosophy, the metaphor of water demonstrates the most suitable and successful living approach. (Zhao T.Y., ‘To Change the Way of Seeing,’ in Fang L.J. and Zhang Z.K., Fang Lijun , Beijing: Today Art Museum, 2006, pp.13-15) In response to Fang’s interest in this subject, Gregory Galligan writes that “water, like other encompassing mediums, evokes both harsh containment and spiritual liberation.” (G. Galligan, ‘Fang Lijun: Arario,’ Art In America 97, no. 4, April 2009, pp. 146-147) Although the blue liquid engulfs and nearly drowns the figure portrayed in 1994 No. 4 to symbolise the figure’s powerlessness or loss of voice, the water also serves as a vehicle to facilitate his unrestricted movement. While Series 2 No. 10 , another work offered in the sale created earlier in 1992, plays with the concept of figures swimming in the water, the present blue work plunges deeper into the subject. Distinct from the cartoon-like renderings in gaudy tones characteristic of Fang’s swimming works from 1995 that heighten the sense of absurdity in his later paintings, the present lot depicts a rather serene image. The work underlines Fang’s highly naturalistic handling of white pigments to depict the soft billowing movement of the water stimulated by the figure’s body. The appeal of 1994 No. 4 , nevertheless lies in Li Xianting’s notion that Fang’s “internal image, underwater swimming, exp
Pioneers of Modernism: A Selection from The Scheeres Collection Fang Lijun Follow 1994 No. 4 1994 signed, titled and dated 'Fang Lijun [in Chinese] "94 No.4"' lower left; further signed, titled and dated 'Fang Lijun [in Chinese] "1994. No.4" 1994.1-1995.2' on the reverse oil on canvas 140 x 179.8 cm. (55 1/8 x 70 3/4 in.) Painted in January 1994-February 1995.
Provenance Serieuze Zaken Gallery, Amsterdam Collection of Fezi Kahlesi, The Netherlands Acquired from the above by the present owner Literature Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House ed., Collected Editions of Chinese Oil Painter Volume of Fang Lijun , Sichuan, 2006, p.64 (illustrated) Carol Lu, Living Like a Wild Dog: 1963-2008 Archive Exhibition of Fang Lijun , Taipei, 2009, p. 228 (illustrated) Tingmei Wang and Ruxuan Xie eds., Endlessness of Life: 25 Years Retrospect of Fang Lijun , exh. cat., Taipei, 2009, p.228 (illustrated) Peng Lu and Chun Liu, Fang Lijun: Works Catalogue , Beijing, 2010, p. 262 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay As one of two paintings created by Fang Lijun offered in the present sale, 1994 No. 4 presents a key artwork from the artist’s meditative 1994 blue Swimming series, a concise body of works that has been particularly well-received by an international audience for its universal layering of meanings. Acclaimed by critic Li Xianting as a pioneer alongside Liu Wei of Cynical Realism, Fang creates fictional and ambiguous narratives to examine the shift in China. His works personify sentiments of enervation and angst as a tool to describe the radical change from a collective sense of self-sacrifice to the contemporary state of individualism. (V. Tong, ‘Chinese Cynical Realism: Fang Lijun and his ‘All Too Human World,’ Art Radar , 27 November 2017) As a leading figure of China’s avant-garde art movement, Fang has been featured in several historical exhibitions including the 1994 22nd International São Paulo Biennial, one of the earliest exhibitions to bring contemporary Chinese art to a global audience, in which the artist showcased 1994 No. 6, an important early work from the same series as the present lot. First rendered in 1988 as a breakaway from the ‘85 New Wave Movement, the anonymous bald figure depicted in 1994 No. 4 represents a hallmark of Fang’s artistic vocabulary. “I noticed that although a shaved head on its own is very striking, its individuality disappears in a group of shaved heads,” Fang explains. In the present work however, the anonymity afforded by the group setting is replaced by the inundating water that obscures any signs of the figure’s identity and further emphasises his isolation. This underscores Fang’s notion that “an individual person’s feeling of being omitted and ignored in society is especially strong in our culture.” Depicting one of Fang’s many anonymous bald-headed figures submerged in a body of deep blue water, 1994 No. 4 illustrates the artist’s recurrent fascination with the theme of water. In Laozi’s philosophy, the metaphor of water demonstrates the most suitable and successful living approach. (Zhao T.Y., ‘To Change the Way of Seeing,’ in Fang L.J. and Zhang Z.K., Fang Lijun , Beijing: Today Art Museum, 2006, pp.13-15) In response to Fang’s interest in this subject, Gregory Galligan writes that “water, like other encompassing mediums, evokes both harsh containment and spiritual liberation.” (G. Galligan, ‘Fang Lijun: Arario,’ Art In America 97, no. 4, April 2009, pp. 146-147) Although the blue liquid engulfs and nearly drowns the figure portrayed in 1994 No. 4 to symbolise the figure’s powerlessness or loss of voice, the water also serves as a vehicle to facilitate his unrestricted movement. While Series 2 No. 10 , another work offered in the sale created earlier in 1992, plays with the concept of figures swimming in the water, the present blue work plunges deeper into the subject. Distinct from the cartoon-like renderings in gaudy tones characteristic of Fang’s swimming works from 1995 that heighten the sense of absurdity in his later paintings, the present lot depicts a rather serene image. The work underlines Fang’s highly naturalistic handling of white pigments to depict the soft billowing movement of the water stimulated by the figure’s body. The appeal of 1994 No. 4 , nevertheless lies in Li Xianting’s notion that Fang’s “internal image, underwater swimming, exp
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