Lot 116
RARE TENTURE EN BROCART DE SOIE REPRÉSENTANT LE PARADIS BOUDDHIQUE, Chine, dynastie Qing, époque Qianlong (1736-1795)
Adjugé 28 864 €
Finement tissé en fils d'or et de couleur, il représente le paradis bouddhique :
de haut en bas, le soleil et la lune, deux groupes de quatre apsaras portant des offrandes, trois bouddhas du passé, du présent et du futur (Bhaisajyaguru, Sakyamuni, Amitabha), les disciples les plus proches de Bouddha (Mahakashyapa et Ananda), et enfin les dix-huit luohan et quatre rois célestes (Si Da Tian Wang 四大天王). Une inscription Wu Liang Shou Zun Fo « Amiytayus, Bouddha de la vie éternelle » est placée dans la partie supérieure. Les bordures sont tissées d'une frise de fleurs avec des accrocs et des déchirures horizontales.
L. : 143 cm (56 ¼ in.)
L.: 70 cm (27 ½ in.)
« Sanyu, the line at work »
February 15 - June15, 2025
Museum of Asian Art in Nice
With more than a hundred works of art for the first time exhibited to the public, come to discover the painters artistic universe !
The exhibition features 113 ink drawings, engravings and oil paintings, most of them previously unseen, in dialogue with works of Picasso, Matisse and Foujita. The first exhibition in 21 years dedicated to Sanyu's work in France, offering a unique opportunity to rediscover this major artist.
SANYU 常玉
- BETWEEN CHINA AND EUROPE -
Sanyu is today recognized as one of the most important Chinese painters of the 20th century. In 1966, the situation was quite different when he disappeared, forgotten by all and without heirs. The hundreds of drawings found in his Paris studio were crated and sold by weight at Hôtel Drouot. It wasn't until the 1990s that major exhibitions, first in Taiwan and then in Paris, led to the public's rediscovery of this painter and his recognition as one of the leading exponents of modern Chinese painting. Born in central China, trained in calligraphy and ink painting, Sanyu was one of the first generation of Chinese artists to travel to Europe, eventually spending most of his life in Paris.
Sanyu (1895-1966) Pivoines blanches
Around 1954, Oil on isorel
Musée Cernuschi, Musée des Arts de l'Asie de la Ville de Paris ©Paris Musées, musée Cernuschi, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn image ville de Paris
THE NUDE AS MODEL
Throughout his career, Sanyu made the female nude one of his favorite themes. The setting offered by the Grande Chaumière, with its live models, undoubtedly enabled him to practice for the first time. The nude is absent from Chinese tradition, which deems it immoral. The hundreds of drawings produced by Sanyu affirm his rejection of conservatism, both Chinese and European. In his work on the nude, he develops research into the simplification of forms. Thanks to his training as a calligrapher, he traces the curves of the human body with a suppleness and expressiveness that are distinctly Chinese.
Sanyu (1895-1966) Nu féminin à genoux
1920s-1930s, Ink on paper
Courtesy of Li Ching Educational and Cultural Foundation
"PAINTWORK MUST MOVE FORWARD"
“Painting must move forward. With these words, Sanyu envisions his role and that of his contemporaries in the evolution of art. Drawn to Paris by the artistic ferment of the avant-garde, he remained faithful throughout his life to this desire for innovation. Eager to reinvent forms, he proceeded by successive repetitions to simplify motifs, sometimes tracing the same pose dozens of times with his brush. The distortion of bodies, unusual viewpoints and close-ups are also part of his desire to develop a new art form, breaking away from both Western imitation of reality and the codified vocabulary of Chinese painting.
Sanyu (1895-1966) Léopard
1930s, Linocut on paper
Courtesy of Li Ching Educational and Cultural Foundation
THE "CHINESE MATISSE" ?
Sanyu has often been referred to as the “Chinese Matisse”. The two artists share a number of formal characteristics. Their way of drawing is based on a taste for curves and a rejection of depth in favor of an extreme simplification of forms. However, there is no evidence that the two men ever met. Perhaps these similarities are due in part to a shared visual culture. Matisse, who declared “The revelation came to me from the Orient”, looked to Asian art. His collections included objects from Asia, and some of his theories are not foreign to the Chinese conception of painting.
Sanyu (1895-1966) Nu assis, les jambes croisées.
1920s-1930s. Ink on paper. Gauchet Asian Art
© Yann Girault
Sanyu (1895-1966) Portrait de femme
1920s-1930s Ink on paper , Gauchet Asian Art
© Thomas Fontaine Adagp, Paris, 2025
A retrospective on the artists decisive moments in his career
LA GRANDE CHAUMIÈRE
Sanyu entered enrolled at the Paris School of Fine Arts in 1921. He soon left this institution, where he found the teaching too classical and rigid. Sanyu chose to attend the Grande Chaumière Academy. This private studio in Montparnasse offered to the artists the chance to draw live models, freely exploring their inspiration and techniques. Sometimes with pencil, sometimes with ink and a Chinese brush, Sanyu drew hundreds of characters, both the nude models posing in front of him and the other artists at work.
L’ÉCOLE DE PARIS
In confrontation with the official painting of the Fine Arts School, the Paris of the interwar period saw the emergence of an avant-garde art scene, guided by a quest for individuality and a desire to renew creation. Described as the “School of Paris”, this network mainly comprised foreign artists. More than a movement in its own right, the term refers to the extraordinary emulation that helped make Paris the crucible of artistic modernity in the first half of the twentieth century. Sanyu found his place alongside painters he admired, such as Japan's Foujita and Spain's Picasso. He considers the latter a master who “brought down conservatism”.
Sanyu (1895-1966) Portrait de femme
Années 1920-1930 Encre sur papier , Gauchet Art Asiatique ©Thomas Fontaine Adagp, Paris, 2025
MONTPARNASSE
In the 1920s, the area of Montparnasse was the beating heart of Parisian artistic life. Like the other figures of the École de Paris, Sanyu was a regular at cafés such as La Coupole and Le Dôme, where he spent hours drawing his friends and fellow “montparnos”, sometimes on the corner of a tablecloth. In 1929, he met collector and dealer Henri-Pierre Roché, who was close to Cubist and Surrealist artists. Roché, convinced of his talent, bought him hundreds of works to help him build his reputation. It was on his advice that Sanyu diversified his production, experimenting with etching and oil painting.
Curatorship :
Adrien Bossard, Curator, director of the Museum of Asian Art in Nice
David Pujos, Curator
Further information :
Musée départemental des arts asiatiques in Nice
Free admission from February 15 to June 15, 2025
📍405, Promenade des Anglais, 06200 Nice