PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Taiwan
Acquired from Taipei in 90s

The most important Chinese-born painter to be counted a part of the École de Paris, Sanyu was particularly renowned for his ink wash/brush paintings and drawings of human bodies, earning him the moniker Matisse of the East. Taking his cue from traditional Chinese calligraphy, and further honing his artistic skills by sketching from life, he became an expert at depicting Western subjects through the prism of Eastern style and technique. His art combines a distinct feel of Western modernity with the understated elegance of Eastern freehand flair, something that is especially obvious in his many female nudes. It will be interesting to follow the latest collectors’craze for Sanyu’s nude drawings and paintings, each of them exemplifying the seductiveness of the artist’s lines and the beauty of his female forms.

Nude is a masterpiece of Sanyu, the audience can easily realized Sanyu had infused the painting concept from the western with traditional techniques from the east. It gives a full body and a sense of completeness to the painting with very few strokes, this painting style is termed nude in ink. Sanyu was exploring a breakthrough from the tradition, he elaborates on the smoothness and sensuous beauty of the body with straightforward and unique techniques, usually completes in one stroke. This demonstrates Sanyu is a true master with lines, Sanyu’s artwork gives the contemporaneousness of the west and the freehand brushwork of the east a perfect infusion.