LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Oil on canvas

Measurements:

20.87 in. (53.00 cm.) (height) by 14.96 in. (38.00 cm.) (width)

Description:

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Markings:

Signed in Chinese (lower left)

Provenance:

PROVENANCE： Acquired from the artist’s family；China Guardian Auctions， 15 May 2004， Lot12.Thanks to the great success of the first solo exhibition in 1942， Guan Liang’s vision of visiting rivers and mountains of the motherland and painting scenic spots around China was realized. After a two-year trip， he completed a series of creative works that were crucial in his artistic career. His painting style was perfectly shift between the Western painting that emphasizes the medium texture and the Chinese ink wash painting that emphasizes expressiveness， both of which were in the top grade available at his fingertips， as a gift from the gods. Enjoy Gorge Views While Travelling by Canoe stood out like a stork herein.As an important promoter of the western art movements of early modernism in China， Guan was admitted to the Tokyo Pacific Fine Arts School in Japan to study painting under Fujishima Takeji at the age of 17. His early oil paintings were deeply influenced by Impressionism and Beastism. Guan returned to China in 1922 and taught at Shanghai Shenzhou Girls’ School， Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts， and Shanghai University of the Arts. In 1937， Guan left the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts， and then he taught at the Kunming and Chengdu Technical College. In 1942， Guan successfully held his first solo exhibition in Chengdu， Sichuan province. In 1945， Guan joined the National Academy of Art（present-day China Academy of Art） hosted by Pan Tianshou， and refined his painting in the teaching， returning to the“plain and innocent”literati painting art creation.In the autumn of 1942， Guan held his first solo exhibition in the Mainland. The painting style of“Blunt and heavy， sturdy yet skillful， tender yet firm”brought great honor to him in the art world. This exhibition achieved an unprecedented success that Guan sold more than forty works， which was exchanged for a considerable amount of money， enabling him to travel over the mountains and rivers of the motherland and explore the art treasury. During this summer vacation， Guan resigned from the Chengdu Technical College， and left Chengdu alone with art materials， trekking across the northwest China and traveling around the Central Plains. He had successively climbed Mount Emei， visited Leshan， and taken a boat along the Jialing River to Dazu， stepped on Jiange， then walked out of Jianmen Pass through Guangyuan and headed north to Baoji， finally passed through Lanzhou to Chang’an and went down to Luoyang. After witnessed all the flourishing and downfall， the mountains and rivers， the thunder and lightning during this two-year trip， Guan had his mind opened， the courage of art exploration strengthened， and obtained the most precious and unforgettable experience in his entire artistic career.During the trip， Guan created a number of representative works with unique scenery and broad vision， among which Enjoy Gorge Views While Travelling by Canoe was the prominence. This work was created on the way from Hanzhong， Shaanxi province to Guangyuan， Sichuan province， depicting a magnificent landscape of the gorge： the misty mountains， the splendid stone cliffs， the rapids of clear stream， with green trees surrounding the sit， bringing infinite vitality to the gorge. The work was produced with a special panoramic composition， the red cliff stood upright on both sides of the picture， and the jade-like stream poured out from the middle， creating a vast world in a small picture. Compared with the landscape paintings with strong texture created by Guan in the 1950s， the brush strokes of Enjoy Gorge Views While Travelling by Canoe were smooth and fluid， and the painting style was exactly the same with Guan’s ink and wash style. At this time， Guan was able to shift freely between different medium of traditional Chinese painting and Western oil painting， which was the best testimony of the peak period of his creation.