Liu Dan

signed LIU DAN, titled, dated 2004 and with one seal of the artist

Jiansongge Collection
Private Asian Collection

Selected Objects of Scholarly Admiration / Liu Dan, Jeff Hsu's Art, Taiwan, 2005, unpaginated.

Overall in good condition.
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Liu Dan is one of the most accomplished contemporary painters in ink today. Formally trained in the classical tradition, Liu has produced an exhilarating legacy of physical grandeur and spiritual immensity in the last three decades. Painstakingly conceived and serenely self-contained, Liu's paintings embody a formal aesthetic reminiscent of both classical Greek sculpture and the finest traditional Chinese landscapes. 

Floating Clouds epitomizes the transcendent universe of Liu Dan and is a timeless tribute to traditional Chinese culture, philosophy, and the spiritual practice of rock contemplation. When painting a stone, he views his task as that of a portraitist.  His challenge is to uncover the essence of the object – its history, provenance and spirit. Each portrait of the stone reveals the inherently abstract nature of the stone itself. Admired in China for their strange and otherworldly qualities, scholar's rocks are perceived as complex and elegant with patterns and textures that create an enticing surface. They are appreciated as a representation of the larger natural world and as part of the greater the cosmic universe. In a similar manner, Liu's paintings are less a representation of the depicted object but a meditation on the artist's experience of engagement.