Cheong Soo Pieng (Singaporean, 1917-1983), 鐘泗濱


Void 1962signed and dated 1962; signed and dated 1962 on the reverseoil on canvas91 x 60.3 cm (35 13/16 x 23 3/4 in)
|ProvenancePrivate Collection, Singapore (acquired directly from the artist)ExhibitedSingapore, Victoria Memorial Hall, Exhibition of Paintings by Cheong Soo Pieng, Oct-Nov 1963, no.37鐘泗濱 虛空油彩畫布1962年作簽名: 四賓 1962.背面簽名：Soo Pieng. 1962. 來源新加坡私人收藏（直接得自藝術家）展覽「鐘泗濱」，新加坡維多利亞劇院及音樂會堂，1963年10月至11月，編號37A multi-faceted artist, Cheong Soo Pieng is a pioneer of Southeast Asian modern art. Born in Xiamen in 1917, Cheong moved to Singapore upon the end of World War II. Characterised by a mastery of various mediums and stylistic shifts, Cheong's oeuvre heavily embodies the innovative spirit of modernism. Along with his iconic, long-limbed female figures of the Nanyang Art style, Cheong's abstract compositions are among his most seminal works. After leaving his teaching post in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), where he taught from 1946 to the end of 1961, Cheong travelled to Europe. His sojourn abroad was spent mainly in London, and the two-year long trip culminated in a solo exhibition at Redfern Gallery on Cork Street in 1963, which marked his success and recognition as an international artist in London. It was in Europe where Cheong began experimenting freely with Western concepts and aesthetics of abstraction. When Chinese painter Xu Beihong called for the modernisation of Chinese art traditions through Western techniques in the first half of the 20th century, Chinese artists began confronting the issue of integration. Cheong was one of the few who managed to seamlessly amalgamate the two different art practices of East and West in what has been termed as his lyrical abstraction phase, which began with the medium of ink on paper in early 1962. These ink on paper works were precursors to Cheong's early oil on canvas abstractions, which he began experimenting with in the same year. Executed in 1962, Void is representative of Cheong's quintessential early abstract compositions, characterized by a burst of oil pigments on the canvas and brushstrokes executed in an expressionist manner. Additionally, there is the recurring circular motif that compels one to think of the sun or the moon, or both. This circular motif can yet again be seen in another one of Cheong's bold composition, Abstract from 1962. In the present work, Cheong contrasts shades of pastel blue against the otherwise black grey background, achieving a striking luminosity with a sense of theatricality constructed through intense culmination of colors – swatches of yellow, streaks of white, and dabs of red and cobalt - in the center of the composition. Rendered with thin washes of black oil paint across the canvas, the present work is reminiscent of techniques that English Romantic painter Joseph Mallord William Turner employed in his later years to achieve a blurring effect. Combining Western methods with a diffused technique rooted in traditional Chinese ink wash paintings, Cheong translates an atmospheric effect to his abstract oil compositions, crafting a style that is remarkable and distinctive. Cheong's works bear some similarities to the works of his contemporary and painter Zao Wou-Ki, who also attained mastery in a variety of mediums. Zao's intuitive abstractions found a profound affinity between both Eastern and Western traditions. Both artists shared similarities in the tactile, fluid substance capable of a range of expressions beyond the merely descriptive. Adopting Chinese methods of gestural calligraphic brushstrokes with a Western medium, Cheong's paintings yield a softer finish, presenting each stroke in a generous yet delicate manner, resulting in compositions that are bold yet elegant and graceful, as seen in the present work. Cheong's striking abstraction propels us to contemplate a state of emptiness amidst energetic bursts of vivid pigments. The present work embodies Cheong's constant experimentation with various artistic languages, marrying techniques and traditions, distinctively synthesising the paradigm of Chinese and Western Art. 才華出眾的鍾泗濱是東南亞現代藝術先驅，生於一九一七年，第二次世界大戰結束後移居新加坡。他精通多元媒材，風格多變，作品饒富現代主義的新創精神。除了以細長南洋女性形象的藝術語彙聞名遐邇，他在抽象繪畫方面也享有盛譽。他從一九四六年到一九六一年底在南洋美術專科學校任教，離職後旅居歐洲二年，大部份時間住在倫敦，並在一九六三年旅程結束之前於庫克街（Cork Street）雷德芬畫廊（Redfern Gallery）舉辦個展為旅程劃上句號。此展顯示出他在倫敦作為國際藝術家的成功與好名聲。在歐洲，鍾泗濱開始自由地實驗西方概念和抽象美學。中國畫家徐悲鴻在二十世紀初葉提倡西方技法，推動中國傳統藝術的現代化，而啟發中國藝術家隨後挑戰中西合璧的問題。鍾泗濱是少數在融合東方與西方兩種截然不同的藝術上游刃有餘的藝術家，事實上他充滿詩意的抒情抽象便是以這樣的風格著稱。他在一九六二年初開始創作紙上水墨作品，同年又在油彩抽象上多所實驗，因此紙上水墨作品可以說是他早期油彩抽象的前身。繪製於一九六二年的《虛空》是鍾泗濱早期經典抽象的代表作，他在畫布上咨意揮灑，爆發性的油彩透露出表現主義的手法。除此之外，在此出現不斷重複的圓形圖案，讓人不禁想到太陽或月亮，也可能兩者皆是。這樣的圓形圖案也出現在鍾泗濱一九六二年另一件氣勢滂薄的作品《抽象》（Abstract）中。在《虛空》的畫面上，他以灰黑色的背景襯托出粉藍色，藉由強烈的色彩——黃、白加上少許的紅和鈷藍——在中央製造出明亮非凡的戲劇感。薄薄的一層黑色顏料染上畫布，讓人想起英國浪漫主義畫家約瑟夫・瑪羅德・威廉・特納（Joseph Mallord William Turner）在晚期用以製造朦朧效果的技法。鐘泗濱結合西方技巧與傳統中國水墨畫的渲染效果，為這幅抽象油畫營造了特殊的氛圍，開創出精彩而獨特的風格。鐘泗濱與同期畫家趙無極的作品有一些相似之處。趙無極也是一位善用多元媒材的繪畫大師，他直覺式的抽象作品同樣汲取東西方繪畫傳統而開闢出新的途徑。他們擅長發揮媒材流暢的特質，達到無可言喻的絕倫表現。鐘泗濱的作品是取用西方媒材和中國水墨畫講求表現形式的技法，因而作品表現出較為柔和的特質，每一筆落落大方同時精巧細緻，就如此件作品所展現，氣勢萬鈞又優美雅緻的畫面。鐘泗濱精彩的抽象繪畫促使我們思考鮮活色彩中那虛無的狀態。這件作品兼容了他不斷實驗的藝術語彙，技法和傳統的結合，以及作為中西兼容並蓄的藝術典範。