Lot 1044
- 1044
CHEONG SOO PIENG | Nature
Estimate
1,400,000 - 2,200,000 HKD
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Description
- Cheong Soo Pieng
- Nature
- signed; signed, titled and dated 1963 on the reverse
- oil on canvas
- 80 by 100 cm; 31 1/2 by 39 1/4 in.
Provenance
Private Asian Collection
Christie's Auction (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, 24 October 2014, Lot 210
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Private Collection, Taiwan
Christie's Auction (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, 24 October 2014, Lot 210
Acquired from the above by the present owner
Private Collection, Taiwan
Exhibited
London, United Kingdom, Redfern Gallery, Cheong Soo Pieng, 23 April-17 May 1963
Literature
Redfern Gallery, Cheong Soo Pieng, London, United Kingdom, 1963, catalogue no. 5
Hou Sou Ping and Ma Peiyi, The Story of Cheong Soo Pieng, Singapore, 2015, color illustration, p. 89, colour illustration
Hou Sou Ping and Ma Peiyi, The Story of Cheong Soo Pieng, Singapore, 2015, color illustration, p. 89, colour illustration
Condition
The work is in good condition overall as viewed. Examination under ultraviolet light shows very tiny spots of retouching predominantly on the center left area and two spots on the middle of the top register. However, this is not visible with the naked eye. Framed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
The circular object is most disconcerting of all. It reappears many times in Soo Pieng’s abstract works: as a sun or a moon… we could only be standing in several places in the world, at several specific times of day to see the largeness of the icons of the solar system…Soo Pieng certainly understood the form as a visual intricacy, and playing with scale as a mean of visual contortion.”1 1Soo Pieng, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, 2013, p. 21
As one of Singapore’s pioneer modern artists, Cheong Soo Pieng demonstrates the experimental yet immensely poetic nature of his artistic identity in Nature. This rare and captivating oil painting is an example of a pivotal time in Soo Pieng’s artistic career, when he was delving into abstraction and shifting away from representational subject matter. From the early 1960s to the late 1970s, Soo Pieng was determined to invent a new aesthetic language to portray the spiritual dimensions of nature and the cosmos. Searing in its warm palette and impassioned brushwork, Nature embodies the hallmarks of Soo Pieng’s abstract lexicon which developed to express the artist’s relationship with the world around him.
In 1961, Soo Pieng resigned from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and voyaged to Europe in the hopes of expanding his perspective and exploring new artistic styles. Prior to this, he had already been exposed to Western art during his formative years as a student at the Xin Hua Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai. However, in Europe he had the opportunity of coming into direct contact with Western art. There, he achieved immense success in his solo exhibitions in London at the Frost & Reed Gallery and Redfern Gallery, and in Munich at Galerie Scninger.
The abstract works he painted during this period are characterized by a focus on composition, color and harmony, demonstrating Soo Pieng’s fascination for the relationship between pictorial elements and emotion. At this time, art informel and its subsets had taken shape in the post-war European art scene. After having witnessed the perils of World War II, people were fixated with notions of individuality and the human spirit. Many felt that representational art was losing its relevance and as a result, artists began breaking away from traditional canons of composition. Abstract Expressionism, Color Field and Fauvism were salient during the time. For Soo Pieng, these radical, avant-garde currents opened the doors for new artistic frontiers, manifesting in his refined landscapes as a series of organic shapes within larger narratives. He extended his sojourn and finally returned home in 1963, the same year he painted the present lot.
In Nature, bold and expressive brushstrokes occupy the majority of the canvas, conjuring a harmonic dance of crimson reds, burnt oranges, bright yellows and deep blacks. When juxtaposed, the warm tones and black pigments intensify and create a sense of visual tension, almost as if the hues empower one another. Strips and splashes of yellow illuminate the work, possibly suggesting the appearance of a sun in the abstracted landscape. Overlapping and colliding lozenges of color are suspended in mid-air, creating a tableau of an impending sunset emerging against a misty horizon. The overall mood, expressed through color and form alone, is palpably calm. The recurrent theme of the setting sun, often featured in Soo Pieng’s abstract landscapes, is symbolic of the mystery and grandiosity of life itself and so telling of the artist’s spiritual discernment.
Upon viewing the dynamic brushwork, it is evident that Soo Pieng painted with swiftness and vigor. While Soo Pieng does not adhere to a single art style, he adapts several elements from each and creates his personal artistic idiom by exploring several western movements while still remaining loyal to his eastern roots. While the expressive movement of his brush is akin to action painting and abstract expressionism, it also shares similarities to the art of Chinese calligraphy which is characterized by rapid and confident brushwork and deems that there is an intrinsic energy within each mark on a work’s surface. Furthermore, Soo Pieng manipulates the viscous medium of oil paint by painting in diluted layers, allowing him to manifest a sense of weightlessness and translucency akin to that of Chinese inks. He essentially reinvents shan shui or Chinese landscape painting, which emphasizes the importance of leading the viewer’s eye towards the focal point of the work. In Nature, the impression of a sun serves as the nucleus of the composition, orbited by swirling color fields and abstract elements. This fusion of East and West exemplifies the artist’s prowess in consolidating vastly different mediums and styles.
As one of the first manifestations of his abstract style, Nature hails from a significant period of Soo Pieng’s career, which would influence his subsequent works. His trip to Europe brought about a fresh manner of artistic expression that took Soo Pieng on unchartered territories. After returning to Singapore, Soo Pieng began to work on different forms of abstract art. As such, his early abstract works from the early 1960s are exceptionally rare, providing an insight into the maestro’s evolving artistic sensibilities. Nature is a truly majestic painting, emblematic of the significant legacy of the Nanyang artist, who was constantly seeking to embark on new challenges and expand his artistic repertoire.
As one of Singapore’s pioneer modern artists, Cheong Soo Pieng demonstrates the experimental yet immensely poetic nature of his artistic identity in Nature. This rare and captivating oil painting is an example of a pivotal time in Soo Pieng’s artistic career, when he was delving into abstraction and shifting away from representational subject matter. From the early 1960s to the late 1970s, Soo Pieng was determined to invent a new aesthetic language to portray the spiritual dimensions of nature and the cosmos. Searing in its warm palette and impassioned brushwork, Nature embodies the hallmarks of Soo Pieng’s abstract lexicon which developed to express the artist’s relationship with the world around him.
In 1961, Soo Pieng resigned from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and voyaged to Europe in the hopes of expanding his perspective and exploring new artistic styles. Prior to this, he had already been exposed to Western art during his formative years as a student at the Xin Hua Academy of Fine Arts in Shanghai. However, in Europe he had the opportunity of coming into direct contact with Western art. There, he achieved immense success in his solo exhibitions in London at the Frost & Reed Gallery and Redfern Gallery, and in Munich at Galerie Scninger.
The abstract works he painted during this period are characterized by a focus on composition, color and harmony, demonstrating Soo Pieng’s fascination for the relationship between pictorial elements and emotion. At this time, art informel and its subsets had taken shape in the post-war European art scene. After having witnessed the perils of World War II, people were fixated with notions of individuality and the human spirit. Many felt that representational art was losing its relevance and as a result, artists began breaking away from traditional canons of composition. Abstract Expressionism, Color Field and Fauvism were salient during the time. For Soo Pieng, these radical, avant-garde currents opened the doors for new artistic frontiers, manifesting in his refined landscapes as a series of organic shapes within larger narratives. He extended his sojourn and finally returned home in 1963, the same year he painted the present lot.
In Nature, bold and expressive brushstrokes occupy the majority of the canvas, conjuring a harmonic dance of crimson reds, burnt oranges, bright yellows and deep blacks. When juxtaposed, the warm tones and black pigments intensify and create a sense of visual tension, almost as if the hues empower one another. Strips and splashes of yellow illuminate the work, possibly suggesting the appearance of a sun in the abstracted landscape. Overlapping and colliding lozenges of color are suspended in mid-air, creating a tableau of an impending sunset emerging against a misty horizon. The overall mood, expressed through color and form alone, is palpably calm. The recurrent theme of the setting sun, often featured in Soo Pieng’s abstract landscapes, is symbolic of the mystery and grandiosity of life itself and so telling of the artist’s spiritual discernment.
Upon viewing the dynamic brushwork, it is evident that Soo Pieng painted with swiftness and vigor. While Soo Pieng does not adhere to a single art style, he adapts several elements from each and creates his personal artistic idiom by exploring several western movements while still remaining loyal to his eastern roots. While the expressive movement of his brush is akin to action painting and abstract expressionism, it also shares similarities to the art of Chinese calligraphy which is characterized by rapid and confident brushwork and deems that there is an intrinsic energy within each mark on a work’s surface. Furthermore, Soo Pieng manipulates the viscous medium of oil paint by painting in diluted layers, allowing him to manifest a sense of weightlessness and translucency akin to that of Chinese inks. He essentially reinvents shan shui or Chinese landscape painting, which emphasizes the importance of leading the viewer’s eye towards the focal point of the work. In Nature, the impression of a sun serves as the nucleus of the composition, orbited by swirling color fields and abstract elements. This fusion of East and West exemplifies the artist’s prowess in consolidating vastly different mediums and styles.
As one of the first manifestations of his abstract style, Nature hails from a significant period of Soo Pieng’s career, which would influence his subsequent works. His trip to Europe brought about a fresh manner of artistic expression that took Soo Pieng on unchartered territories. After returning to Singapore, Soo Pieng began to work on different forms of abstract art. As such, his early abstract works from the early 1960s are exceptionally rare, providing an insight into the maestro’s evolving artistic sensibilities. Nature is a truly majestic painting, emblematic of the significant legacy of the Nanyang artist, who was constantly seeking to embark on new challenges and expand his artistic repertoire.