PROVENANCE:

The painting is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Dimensions Art Center, Taipei

Toward the end of the 1970s, the late painter Shiy De-jinn paid multiple visits to Lin Fengmian, who was living in Hong Kong at the time. During their time at the Hangzhou Academy of Art, the two of them developed a profound friendship as student and teacher. Shiy De-jinn went on to write a book entitled Lin Fengmian: A Pioneer Reforming Chinese Painting, published in 1979 by the Hsiung Shih Art Books Company. In this book, he states that there are those who predict that the history of Chinese fine arts will be divided into "pre-Lin Fengmian Chinese painting" and "post-Lin Fengmian Chinese painting." He describes Lin Fengmian's background-born in an era of crossroads between the old and the new, his lifetime efforts to attain his ideal of reforming painting, and his contributions.

From an early age, Lin Fengmian learned the art of stone carving from his grandfather. After reading the Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual, he developed an interest in painting. During his studies in Paris, he rediscovered the source of traditional Chinese culture, taking a particular liking to the refinement of Sung Dynasty (960-1279 A. D.) pottery; traces of this influence can be found in his later still life paintings and portraits of women. After returning to China, he studied the stone carvings of the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) and the Dunhuang frescoes, and enjoyed the lacquer of the Epoch of Warring States (403-221 B.C.), the golden and emerald landscapes of the Shui (590-618 A.D.) and Tang (618-907 A.D.) Dynasties, as well as the popular arts of woodcut New Year paintings and leather puppet silhouette shows. Later on, these rich and varied traditions in Chinese culture influenced his landscape paintings and portrayal of dramatic characters. Aside from this, he also added the light and shadow and colors of Western Impressionist painting, injecting new life into Chinese painting.

In Feng Yuan's essay Lin Fengmian, the Forerunner Who Absorbs Western Art to Revive Chinese Art, Feng points out how Lin took the Chinese painting principle of "treating white as black" and the usual practice of leaving white in the background and reversed it into "treating black as white", filling deeply colored backgrounds with rich, brilliant colors that stood out in contrast instead. In fact, this method of using a black background in painting originated from the improvements made in Chinese lacquer painting. In the black lacquer paintings of ancient China, shapes and colors were strikingly complex. One painter, Sanyu, especially favored this style of painting. In this auction, Lin Fengmian's Chrysanthemum utilizes black as the background and with fine white strokes, creates an effect like lacquer painting. Lin favored square composition in his works, inspired by the tradition of Sung Dynasty paintings.

One can say that the painting style of Lin, who meticulously studied shape and color, blended the heart and intellect of his whole life. Chrysanthemum was completed in 1988 when the artist was already 88 years old. With a brush that was bold and strong and strokes that grandly uplifted, each touch of his brush brought out the fragrance of every petal. Yet the painting is full of an innocence and childlike quality, just like New Year paintings which are so intimate and delightful and which demonstrate the beauty of perfect harmony. Lin Fengmian was born in Canton, in a hometown abundant with chrysanthemums, the symbol of the "scholar recluse." As the famous poet Tao Yuanming once said in a verse which has been passed down a thousand years, "Picking chrysanthemums from underneath the eastern fence, I see the Southern Mountain in the distance." In his early years, Lin demanded the reform of Chinese painting. But after the difficult decade of the Cultural Revolution, in his later years, he only wanted to live quietly in Hong Kong. Without a doubt, he personified the scholar recluse.

According to the description of Shiy De-jinn, early on, when Lin Fengmian was the head of the Hangzhou Academy of Art, his residence was a two-story Western-style house with a garden. Through the gate was the lawn, a large verdant area surrounded by blossoming flowers of all kinds. Up the stairs, one could see the room where he painted. Both inside and outside of the room were pots of purple and pink flowers, which he was growing himself. The garden full of flowers was his subject matter. After World War II and the liberation of Mainland China, Lin moved to Shanghai where he lived a reclusive life. He began to paint characters from Peking opera and Chinese women to escape the chaos of the times. At this point, "...he continued to paint flowers, but they were not in their natural state. Instead, they were cut flowers in vases." This fully expressed the lonely heart of the painter, which was like wandering, rootless flowers.

Lin Fengmian specialized in using colors and capturing light, absorbing the skill of the Impressionists in his own painting. Huang Meng-tian, the Hong Kong art critic, in an essay"Lin Fengmian Painting Flowers, describes his flower vase art: "In my appreciation of life, Lin Fengmian's painting of flowers is one of the topics that I pay particular attention to. Initially, his flowers had not yet taken on today's artistic style. But later on, flowers were the main subjects of his still life paintings. He is an artist who passionately loves painting flowers. ...When creating, he does not do the usual, superficial sketching, but seizes the unique qualities of the subject, using his experienced brush to transmit its spirit, bringing out the special characteristics of the images. At times, he does not shy from using exaggerated colors to emphasize the painting's atmosphere and feeling. He concentrates on the harmonious blending of true nature and decorative nature. He diligently pursues the atmosphere of painting." In his later years, Lin Fengmian's colors and lines became even more unrestrained and youthful. Especially in his flower subjects, there was a sense of innocence, full of poetry and feeling and rich with a decorative flavor.

Since 1979, with the publication of Shyi De-jinn's Lin Fengmian: A Pioneer Reforming Chinese Painting, the public began to notice this master of Chinese and Western painting from the early years of the Chinese republic, who was so active in the art world. In 1988, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum's exhibition Retrospective of Early Painters Who Traveled to France: China-Paris, they introduced him as an artist from the first generation of artists who studied in France. On October 3, 1989, the National Museum of History in Taipei invited Lin Fengmian to Taipei to personally attend the opening of the Lin Fengmian's Ninety Year Retrospective. At this time, collectors within Taiwan paid special attention to this "top person in Chinese art circles from the '30s"(Shiy De-jinn). After that, Chrysanthemum was collected by Huang Tsung-hung, the chairman of the largest art gallery in the country, Dimension Art Center, and of the Dimension Endowment of Art. Huang Tsung-hung has collected both domestic as well as international artists' works and the works of early Chinese artists. He was one of the most important collectors of the 1990s in Taiwan. His other Lin Fengmian painting Lady and Lotus Blossoms, was donated to the National Palace Museum. Therefore, Chrysanthemum has the certificate of authenticity from the early Dimension Art Center and has been a part of the Dimension Art Center's art exhibits and catalogues.

References:

Shyi De-jinn, Lin Fengmian: A Pioneer Reforming Chinese Painting, Hsiung Shih Art Books Company, Taipei, 1980
Zheng Chao (editor), Collection of Studies on Lin Fengmian, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, August 1995
National Palace Museum, Painting and Calligraphy Donated to the National Palace Museum, http:/www.npm.gov.tw/exh92/present9207/p3.htm