Liu Xiaodong

signed and titled in Chinese and dated 06



 



 

Jerusalem, The Israel Museum, Made in China: Contemporary Chinese Art at the Israel Museum, September 2007 - March 2008, cover, illustrated in color
Denmark, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Made in China: Works from the Estella Collection, March - August 2007, pp. 198-199, illustrated in color

Framed in a wooden frame, the work is in generally very good overall condition. There was minor restoration performed at the top center edge of the paper measuring less than 4 inches and another spot measuring less than .5 inches at the lower center edge of the paper. As a result of the temporary frame, the paper is wavy, but this is not a condition issue with the work. This work is not sold with the frame, and will be removed from the temporary frame to be shipped rolled. Not examined under UV light.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Liu Xiaodong is China's most celebrated realist figure painter. Graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1988 with a degree in Oil Painting, his early career coincided with a time when the Chinese art world was undergoing rapid change: he became an active force in that metamorphosis. While many young artists eagerly pursued modes of painting new to China, as well as newly introduced media, a small group of Beijing painters sought to find a new direction for figurative realism. Liu Xiaodong was the leading representative of this group, which came to be known as the "New Generation." For decades socialist realism had dominated art instruction: for the New Generation painters to turn their native talent and rigorous training to the portrayal of mundane or typical moments in the lives of young urbanites like themselves was a dramatic step.

While during his youth Liu Xiaodong was most concerned with expressing facets of life he had personally experienced, as time has passed he has also taken up social issues as major subjects. The two paintings considered here, Valley of the Demon I (Lot 11) and Men & Women (Lot 10), painted in 2005 and 2006 respectively, represent these two interests of the artist. The former is an idyllic view of a young girl—Liu's daughter—taking a break from swimming; the latter addresses issues of gender difference as well as being linked to the theme of displaced persons, a topic which has fascinated Liu for several years. Both works are rendered in the artist's characteristic fluid and descriptive brushwork, and exhibit his great talent for expressing mood through gesture and posture, as well as his ability to hint at the presence of a broader meaning—something beyond that which is immediately accessible to the viewer.

Valley of the Demon I is inspired by a photograph Liu Xiaodong took of his daughter when they were relaxing in the Beijing suburbs. He noted that "the scene is mystical. Even though she is very young, her posture is like that of a warrior of ancient Rome . . . ."[i] The classicism of the pose is felt instinctively by the viewer. Thus, while the painting essentially represents an unremarkable moment of day-to-day life, the classicism in combination with youthful innocence in a verdant natural setting creates a sense of other-worldliness and commands a degree of reverence: this intangible quality invites extended contemplation.

Liu Xiaodong painted Men & Women for a 2006 exhibition at the Fenice, Venice's opera house. Because of the location, it was suggested to Liu that his painting have a connection with music. We can view the bodies arrayed from left to right as forms akin to musical notes, the spacing suggesting a temporal progression, with the whole coming together in a pleasing composition. Beyond that, undressed and decontextualized, at first glance the figures appear as universal representatives of their genders, grouped according to sex and separated by folded and piled clothing. Their attitudes as they recline at their leisure differ, however, the women together in a sensuous cluster while the men repose individually with less consciousness of their bodies' display. Liu drew these figures from important projects of the previous year, bringing them together to catalyze a fresh point of view. In 2005 he had been working on the Three Gorges and Hot Bed series, particularly focused on depicting displaced persons who earn their living from their bodies. The male figures in Men & Women are based on photographs of migrant workers taken while preparing for the Three Gorges paintings: the men were searching for work related to the massive Three Gorges Dam. The female figures are based on photographs of prostitutes. As early as 2001 Liu had photographed a group of prostitutes at their leisure, and he returned to this subject in 2005 for the Hot Bed series. Bringing the men and women together in Men & Women, with minimal context, we are left to contemplate them as they are, separate from their social status—or even as different notes in a human melody.

[i] E-mail to the author 9 March 2006.

-Britta Erickson