A faint wind through the fine grass on the shore; high mast and lonely boat in the night. The stars reach down to the wide level fields; the moon rushes on in the swing of the Great River.

–Du FU [Tang Dynasty]
Thoughts While Traveling at Night

Tai Xiangzhou set out by imitating the styles of old masterpieces, but soon proceeded from copying to developing his own approach, which ingeniously employs the swift and bold strokes of Yuan dynasty painting to create works filled with the majesty and splendor. At the same, he manages to inject his oeuvre with a sense of great depth and serenity. This lot, titled"Celestial [2015.1]," uses compositional elements and aesthetic imagery inspired by Oriental traditions to create a meditative atmosphere. His deft spatial arrangements and smooth, ethereal palette invite us to lose ourselves in the vastness of his cosmos. At first glance, this piece seems to be on the figurative side in showing celestial formations, but the longer we look, the more we become immersed in the abstract beauty of a great river rolling towards the sea, and enjoy the rhythmical undulations fed by the artist's inner world of warmth and emotion.

Tai Xiangzhou's works are collected by numerous museums and academic institutions, including the following:
Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archeology, Beijing
Harvard's Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art
Yale University Art Gallery
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, North Carolina
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City
Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey
The Art Institute of Chicago