Lalan (Xie Jinglan)

signed, titled and dated 72 on the reverse

Important Private European Collection

Exposition de Peintures de Lalan, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, May 1990
Shanghai, Shanghai Art Museum, My Vision of Paradise -  Retrospective of Lalan’s Art, July 4 – August 5, 2009
Macau, Museu de Arte de Macau, Fragrance of the Mind – A Retrospective of Lalan’s Work, March 5 – May 30, 2010

Exposition de Peintures de Lalan, L'Association Culturelle CONFLUENCES EUROPE ASIE, Paris, 1990, plate 14, illustrated in colour
Lalan, Shanghai, People's Fine Arts Publishing House, Shanghai, 2009, p. 90 - 91, illustrated in colour
Fragrance of the Mind - A Retrospective of Lalan's Work, Museu de Arte de Macau, Macau, plate 33, p. 62 - 63, illustrated in colour

This work is overall in very good condition. Despite the slight craquelures across the surface, there is not any wear or paint loss by visual examination.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Important Private European Collection
Lalan's Les formes sortent du bleu et du vert

Vivid melodies to our hearts' delight

Les formes sortent du bleu et du vert is a large diptych made up of two canvasses measuring 195 x 260 cm. A truly well-rounded artist, Lalan (Xie Jinglan) majored in music at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou before pursuing further studies at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse in Paris, where she first came into close contact with the art of movement. For her, drawing commands both the visual and performing arts. As she once said, "The gesture of painting emanates from sounds and gestures inherent in the human body."

This composition suggests the depth of a placid lake. Therein the black contours are shaped like cursive script, or perhaps even more appropriately, an electronic diagram of sound waves. Lyrical abstraction was all the rage in the postwar art scene, and many Chinese artists looked back to their homeland for inspiration. In Les formes sortent du bleu et du vert, Lalan fuses the art of drawing and dance, deftly using calligraphy and music as cohesive media, which is the emblem of her unique abstract style. 

Lalan's merging of musicality with a sense of physical movement resonates with the aesthetics of far-away Dunhuang. Engravings of Apsaras in the Magao Caves, pictured with flowing ribbons in hand, not only linked ancient Indian Gandhara art with Central Asia's Sodhian culture but also affirmed the broadminded nature of China from the Northern to the Tang and Song dynasties. Those flowing ribbons were later absorbed into the performing arts, reappearing in the guise of flowing "water sleeves" in Chinese opera, an important expressive technique essential to the theatrical genre. The transformation of lines in Les formes sortent du bleu et du vert, the flowing ribbons in the air and the "water sleeves" from Chinese opera appear as if they originate from the same place. Together they affirm the deep-rooted connections between Lalan and the quintessence of her homeland in the East.