LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Oil on canvas

Measurements:

20.24 in. (51.40 cm.) (height) by 24.80 in. (63.00 cm.) (width)

Markings:

Signed in Pinyin and dated on reverse

Literature:

LITERATURE1991， Wan Jinsheng Collection of Paintings and Articles， Liaoning Fine Art Publishing House， Liaoning， p.25

Provenance:

PROVENANCEAcquired directly from the artist by present Asian collectorSophisticated and Precise, Vigorous and EtherealThe Navigator of the LuXun Academy of Fine Arts：Wan JinshengBorn in Liaoning province, Wan Jinsheng passed the college entrance exam in 1935 and was enrolled in the Department of Fine Arts, Jilin Normal University, where he was enlightened by Japanese artist Kikura Ikeda who completed study in France. In 1942, Wan pursued advanced training in Tokyo University of the Arts, and staged a joint painting exhibition with renowned Japanese artists such as Takuji Nakamura and Makoto Takada during this period. After returning from Japan, Wan took up the post as the chair of the Department of Fine Arts, Jilin Normal University, and became famous in the Three Northeastern Provinces for his widely recognized painting style as expressive as spiritual. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he served as the chair of the Department of Oil Painting, Northeastern Academy of Fine Arts （now LuXun Academy of Fine Arts） and laid the very foundation for oil painting education at the academy. Wan devoted a lifetime to consummating painting skills and improving arts education. In addition to the oeuvre that the artist created out of genuine feelings, he had disciples all over the country, which made him an icon of the second-generation artists to be reckoned with throughout the Chinese modern art history in general, and within the contemporary art context of northeastern China in particular. This spring, China Guardian is deeply honored to present the master painter’s magnum opus produced in the 1980s. We cordially invite you to bask in the artistic glory hidden for years.An Expressive and Spiritual Representation of Unrivalled SceneryIn 1983, Wan made a sketching trip to the Shanhai Pass and arrived in the early morning. Amazed by the scenic view and the majestic grandeur of this ancient architecture, he expressed his visceral thrills on the canvas, which resulted in the work Sunrise of Shan Hai Guan. Using rich shades of blue, he firstly outlined the silhouette of the Yan Mountains extending forever into the distance in the background, and then imbricated brown and grey colors on it with a scraper, thereby portraying its majestic and strategically significant topography. The meandering Great Wall was painted in several white lines on the mountains, and its magnificent view was ergo encapsulated in a small piece of canvas. The ancient buildings and trees were arranged densely on both sides of the street from the near to the distant, which guided the viewers’eye to converge at the far end where the archery tower with the plaque saying “the First Pass under Heaven,”— the landmark of the Shanhai Pass — is located. The ancient buildings and streets decorated in sprouting plants were clearly identifiable in the early morning light. They animated themselves with energetic appearance and sheer exuberance. Employing his confident and sophisticated techniques, Wan portrayed the picturesque scenery of the Shanhai Pass on the canvas with delicacy. By virtue of the rich imbrication of colors, the composition interlaced by the real and the virtual, as well as the rendering of his subjective frisson of excitement, the artist managed to create an unrivalled scenery that proclaims a new appearance of this nation on the basis of the vast loess plateau and the majestic mountains engraved on Chinese people’s collective memories.