Zhang Xiaogang

signed in Chinese and dated 2007 on the reverse (signed in 2007), framed

Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong
Acquired by the present owner from the above

From New Figurative Image to New Painting, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, Changsha, China, 2002, p. 228 and cover

This work is generally in good condition. This work has a slightly undulating surface. There is minor wear in handling marks around the edges.
"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."

In Zhang Xiaogang’s oeuvre, works from the 1980s are lyric compositions of his internal monologue, different from those of the 1990s, which are of a rather symbolic nature. Zhang Xiaogang embarked on his artistic career after graduating from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 1982; his works of the 1980’s could be called the products of the liberation of thinking in China and infusion of Western philosophy and aesthetics during that decade. During his studies Zhang had already come into contact with the Post-Impressionist school, and held both Van Gogh and Gauguin in high esteem. At the same time, as Western philosophy had entered China and exerted massive influence over the academic world, Zhang Xiaogang and other cultured youth were influenced by avant-garde movements like French Existentialism, the Theatre of the Absurd, and Surrealism. Zhang was particularly taken with the Czech literary master Kafka, and it was this body of learning, along with artistic thinking and personal experience, that gave rise to the uniquely surreal and atmospheric vocabulary of the artist’s work throughout the 1980’s.

After completing his graduation work, the strongly post-impressionist Grassland Series, Zhang Xiaogang found that seeking a work unit would not be easy. In 1984 he was sent to the hospital after heavy drinking, an experience that led to the artist’s “Demon Period,” of which his representative works focus on themes like devils and imagery of death, all in an attempt to express the interrogation and exploration of existence, life, and death through a surrealist artistic language. Zhang, introverted as he is, does not take any clear position in this series or the later Lost Dream; instead, what is presented is a projection of the artist’s state of mind. He describes his work of the “Demon Period” in this way: “To convey the sensations of terror and tragedy experienced by a contorted, bare soul situated on the boundary between life and death … the work emphasises a particular freakish and convulsive misery.”

In 1986 the artist was finally offered employment by his alma mater, the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, in the art education department. This slightly more stable lifestyle allowed him to leave the darkness behind, turning away from the weightiness of death and exchanging it for Eastern mysticism and the nonaction doctrine of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Primitive and religious art became sources of inspiration, as Zhang was then particularly interested in Chan Buddhism, through which he continued to consider the notion of life in his work. As he describes: “Traveling toward the spiritual world, attempting to seek the essential riddle of life and death, looking for tolerant but constant laws of art.” It was in this state that the artist began to produce the Lost Dream series, which has come to be a highly representative work from his early period. The four works on offer this season belong to the Waste Land series, which plays a significant role during this period prior to participating in the Chinese Avant-Garde Exhibition in 1989 with the work Forever Lasting Love. The Waste Land series possesses a specific documentation value since the artist’s train of thought can be seen clearly within. All four paintings were produced through a unique method employed by the artist throughout that period, described as oil painting with paper engraving. Using oil paints as his primary medium, Zhang then used a blade to impress or print the silhouettes of figures within the compositions in order to emphasise the solidity of the modeling—a greatly expressive technique.

All of the four works from the Waste Land series employ the subject of land. Naked women appear in different poses, some standing, some sitting cross-legged, some raising their hands high and some lying on rocks. However they are all charming and graceful. The naked woman, on the other hand, is a celebration of motherhood, a common symbol in Western art. The different patterns besides the women as flowers and branches present a rich impression of vivacity. In this mysterious yellow ground, there are surreal artistic vocabulary and diverse religious symbols. Although his work from the 1990’s centers on the search for imagery that would belong exclusively to the Chinese, Zhang Xiaogang’s work from the 1980’s involves a much broader form of humanist compassion and more personal philosophical considerations; as such, it constitutes a phase that cannot be left out in a comprehensive understanding of his approach to art.