Walasse Ting (Chinese/American, 1929-2010), (Ding Xiongquan) 丁雄泉


Two Women with Six Parakeets 1990signed with one artist sealacrylic on rice paper34 x 47 cm (13 3/8 x 18 1/2 in)This work was executed in 1990.
|ProvenanceGaleria Internacional de Arte, PortugalAcquired directly from the above by the present owner丁雄泉仕女與長尾鸚鵡壓克力宣紙1990年作藝術家鈐印一方來源葡萄牙阿爾加維國際藝術畫廊現藏家直接購自上述畫廊Referring to himself as the "Flower Thief," Walasse Ting discovered his unique style of working with rice paper and fluorescent acrylic paint in the 1970s. The seven present works on rice paper, created in the 1990s, are a quintessential example of the artist's oeuvre; with Ting's expressive women, and exuberant array of flowers, birds and animals instilling his archetypal freshness and vitality. Born in 1929 in Wuxi, China, Ting grew up in Shanghai and Hong Kong. In 1953, he moved to France, where he was introduced to artists of the CoBrA movement and later influenced by the works of Henri Matisse. Moving to New York at the height of Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art in the 1960s, Ting befriended American abstract artist Sam Francis and found inspiration in action painting, as seen in Ting's earlier style of dripping colorful paint directly onto canvases. It was in New York where Ting found his balance between Western and Eastern aesthetics, and gradually developed artistic maturity in the 1970s. Using both ink and acrylic and adopting a more figurative approach, he painted women, flowers, and birds, especially parrots, which became one of the most prominent recurring motifs in his compositions as seen in Three Beauties with Parrots (lot 27) and Three Parrots (lot 30). The present works highlight Ting's distinctive style in outlining his figures with Chinese calligraphic brushstrokes then filling each outlined shape with bright fluorescent colored paint, reminiscent of influences from Abstract Expressionism. The unique large-scale triptych Three Women with a Red Horse (lot 28) shows an interesting composition of a disproportionately sized horse next to three women. Smaller in scale, the woman on the left holds a blue vase of fresh flowers in full bloom. Next to her is a woman wearing a bright yellow robe, unwrapped with her nude body exposed. Drawing connections with Matisse's highly coloristic depictions of nude women, Ting's traditional Chinese woman figures often communicate a sense of implicit sensuality through their clothing, posture, and glance. This can be seen in Women with Baskets (lot 48), where one woman is covering her face with a fan that merely reveals her eyes and the other playfully touching a floral headpiece close to her cheek. This lyrical sensuality is further illustrated by the fluidity of Ting's brushstrokes and vivid pigments he employs. These women are sensual yet mysterious, and alluring yet intangible to the viewer. In the artist's own words, "I've spent all my life painting, to express a sense of freshness just like a new spring" (the artist in: Ning Jia, 'Walasse Ting, The Acme of Perfection' in Walasse Ting: To Love To Fresh, Shanghai 2011, p. 40). This is captured in the final work from this collection, Peacock (lot 49). Juxtaposing a beautiful royal blue peacock against its bed of fluorescent green feathers that covers the entire horizontal composition, Peacock is a classic example of Ting's representation of beauty and quest for freshness in spring. These stunning works capture Ting's most iconic motifs and his unmistakable sense of a bright, fresh, dazzling world.自稱為「採花大盜」的丁雄泉在一九七〇年代時開始以高彩度壓克力顏料在宣紙上作畫，遂發掘出獨特的個人風格。此七件紙上作品創作於一九九〇年代，可謂藝術家的經典作品。他筆下撩人的美女和斑斕的花鳥獸為作品注入了一股青春活力。丁雄泉於一九二九年出生於中國無錫，在上海與香港成長。在一九五三年移居法國時結識了眼鏡蛇畫派（CoBra movement）藝術家，隨後受到馬蒂斯作品的影響。進入一九六〇年代，丁雄泉搬遷至紐約，恰逢當時風起雲湧抽象表現主義和波普藝術，自此與山姆・法蘭西斯（Sam Francis）結為好友，並受到行動繪畫（action painting）啟發，這一點可見於他早期將五顏六色的顏料直接滴在畫布上的手法。在紐約，丁雄泉找到西方與東方美學之間的平衡點，在一九七〇年代其藝術生涯趨於成熟。他用水墨和壓克力顏料並採取較為具象的手法繪製女性與花鳥，尤其是鸚鵡，這些成為他構圖中反覆出現的標誌性元素，《鸚鵡三美》（Three Beauties with Parrots，編號27）與《三隻鸚鵡》（Three Parrots，編號30）均為經典範例。此拍場的作品裡，丁雄泉用中國毛筆勾勒出輪廓，再以五顏六色的顏料填滿造型，顯見抽象表現主義帶給他的影響，更凸顯出他獨樹一幟的風格。《三美與紅馬》（Three Women with a Red Horse，編號28）是一件難得一見的三聯幅大作，畫中一匹馬位於三名佳麗身旁，誇張的比例使得構圖饒富趣味。左側的女子比例較小，手抱著一只插滿盛開花朵的藍花瓶。旁邊的女子身穿鮮黃色袍子，但袍子敞開，袒露出赤裸的身體。丁雄泉筆下的傳統中國女性使人聯想到馬蒂斯色彩鮮豔的裸女，但是他往往透過服裝、姿態和眼神更常表達出露骨的性感意味。這樣的風格亦可見於《持提籃的女仕》（Women with Baskets，編號48），畫中一名女子用扇子遮住臉龐，僅露出雙眼，另一名女子則俏皮地撫摸著臉旁的花冠。經由丁雄泉流暢的筆法和鮮活的顏色，這個具詩意又挑逗的意象更加栩栩如生，女子予人一種既性感又神秘，既嫵媚又遙不可及之感。藝術家自承：「我畢生追求一種新春的新鮮感」（引自：寧佳，〈丁雄泉，出神入化〉《使我愛使我新鲜》2011年上海，第40頁）。此次藏品中的最後一件作品《孔雀開屏》（Peacock，編號49）尤其彰顯出丁雄泉在繪畫上的企圖心。作品中有一隻皇家藍的美麗孔雀，牠身後鮮綠色的尾羽舒展成一片，占據整個橫向構圖。丁雄泉窮盡一生追求美的再現和春天的新鮮感，《孔雀開屏》便是他的經典作品。這幾件令人讚嘆的作品透露出最標誌性的丁氏主題，以及他對於亮麗、新鮮、絢麗世界的超遠想像。