Lalan (Xie Jinglan)

signed in pinyin (lower right); signed in pinyin and dated 1986 on the stretcher (reverse)
Executed in 1968

Private European Collection

This work is in good condition.
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Lalan's outstanding creativity in dance, music and painting has established her place as a strong representative of the female avant-garde artists of the twentieth-century. In the 1970s, Lalan combined the three aforementioned art forms, creating a number of "integrated artworks". Lalan has said that "the act of painting is driven by an inner voice and motions from within" [1]. Powerful, black, calligraphic lines and free and natural atmospheres characterise her work from the 1960s. The paintings in this sale, Blue (Lot 648) and Gliding (Lot 647) reflect this style. Within the blue-grey background of Gliding, the colour permeates a thick cloud of fog, revealing a dancing melody through the mist. It is as if within the artist's field of vision, things are not restrained or bound; Lalan seeks to express the reality of her inner-world, bringing a feeling of freedom to her viewers. In Blue, black lines move within the deep blue canvas space with a distinct musicality. In fact, these two paintings were made during the momentous international political and social upheavals of the post-World War II period, such as China's Cultural Revolution of 1966 and the student street demonstrations in Paris in the same year. In this unstable decade, Lalan was trying to create a spiritual and peaceful mouthpiece through her work. The atmosphere conveyed in Lalan's work was aptly described by the French art dealer René Drouin when he said that her work was "consistently poetic, as it was yesterday, today and will be tomorrow" [2]. The viewer is invited into Lalan's artistic space to amble, rest, meditate and relax. 

[1]Chen HouSeng, "Preface", Fragrance of the Mind: A Retrospective of Lalan's Work, Museu de Arte de Macau, Macau, 2010, p.15
[2]Lalan, J.M.Beurdeley, Taipei, 1990, p.145