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| Image | Sale date | Auction house | Location | Sale name | Lot No. | Estimate | Price Sold | Condition | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 3, 2019 | China Guardian | Beijing | 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale | 2071 | $****** - ****** | Resting |
paintings
138 x 120 cm (54.33 x 47.24 in)
Oil on canvas
China Modern Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, February 1989;
The First Solo Oil Painting Exhibition of Liu Xiaodong, Art Gallery of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, May 1990.
Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979-2009, Mingsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, April 2010.
Fine Art, P62, Journal 2, 1990;
Selection of Young Teachers'Works of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zhang Rongsheng, Plate45, People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1991;
Liu Xiao Dong, Shui Tianzhong, P19, Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, May 1993;
Works of Liu Xiaodong 1990-2000 , Songxiaoxia, P46, 2000;
Liu Xiao Dong, P92 , MAP BOOK Publisher, 2006;
The Wall:Reshaping Contemporarty Chinese Art, P107, University at Buffalo, Millennium Art Museum, 2005.
The Personal Photographs of Contemporary Chinese Artist Liu Xiaodong 1984-2006, P10, timezone8, 2007;
PORTRAYAL DIALOGUE, P85, Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, November 2007;
Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979-2009, P326, Culture and Art Publishing House, April 2010;
Painting in Action: Liu Xiaodong's Notes (1998-2014), Wu Hong, P15, Shanghai People's Publishing House, August 2014;
All-round Liu Xiaodong1978-2018, P121, Liaoning Fine Arts Publishing House, January 2019.
Signed in Chinese, dated 1988(lower left); Signed in Chinese, dated 1988(middle right) Signed the title in English and Signed name in Pin Yin, dated 1988(on the reverse)
LITERATURE:
Fine Art, P62, Journal 2, 1990;
Selection of Young Teachers'Works of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zhang Rongsheng, Plate45, People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1991;
Liu Xiao Dong, Shui Tianzhong, P19, Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, May 1993;
Works of Liu Xiaodong 1990-2000 , Songxiaoxia, P46, 2000;
Liu Xiao Dong, P92 , MAP BOOK Publisher, 2006;
The Wall:Reshaping Contemporarty Chinese Art, P107, University at Buffalo, Millennium Art Museum, 2005.
The Personal Photographs of Contemporary Chinese Artist Liu Xiaodong 1984-2006, P10, timezone8, 2007;
PORTRAYAL DIALOGUE, P85, Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, November 2007;
Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979-2009, P326, Culture and Art Publishing House, April 2010;
Painting in Action: Liu Xiaodong's Notes (1998-2014), Wu Hong, P15, Shanghai People's Publishing House, August 2014;
All-round Liu Xiaodong1978-2018, P121, Liaoning Fine Arts Publishing House, January 2019.
Signed in Chinese, dated 1988(lower left); Signed in Chinese, dated 1988(middle right) Signed the title in English and Signed name in Pin Yin, dated 1988(on the reverse)
EXHIBITED:
China Modern Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, February 1989;
The First Solo Oil Painting Exhibition of Liu Xiaodong, Art Gallery of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, May 1990.
Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979-2009, Mingsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, April 2010.
The item is held under the bonded status, please check the NOTICE ON AUCTION OF BONDED LOTS in this catalogue for details.
Liu Xiaodong: Yes, there were 2 paintings of mine at the Chinese Modern Art Exhibition in 1989, which are Smoker and Resting. I used something very figurative to illustrate the condition at that time.
In this Resting (1988), there is an electric furnace under a bed and a man is lying on the bed, which gave the viewers a sense of unsafety. The painting shows an extremely numb state at that time, a very dangerous state.
— Liu Xiaodong
As one of the pioneers of the “New Generation”, Liu Xiaodong appeared together with the transformation of Chinese art from 1980s to 1990s. His artworks practice the idea of realism from the aspect of “close” observations. He put in with daily routines and focused on the most common people and events, presenting the isolation and alienation of ordinary people as a witness. At the same time, he showed the overall mental state and realistic situation of his generation, thus establishing the identity of Liu Xiaodong as a representative of the “New Generation” artist. But it is also the enthusiasm for things and people in real life that formed his unique “realism” style and established a unique personal narrative.
Since the 1990s, the Chinese society has undergone a rapid transformation into a market economic system, and it has gradually merged with the global economic system, resulting in great changes in people's lifestyles, ideas, and mental and emotional states. Liu Xiaodong has sensed this new era feature with his keen consciousness, and the direct expression of reality and the profound revelation of the current situation show that he has a very typical meaning as a new generation of painters. Ai Weiwei thought that his works have strong expressions of “the wounds of a country and silent opinions of an artist”. “He is so sensitive to the pain of changes of the times, and when he abandoned the flamboyant and grand narrative of the form, the individual's reality is closely connected with the absurdity of the times. Every ordinary person forms a deep gaze to life in different degrees in his paintings.”
Most of Liu Xiaodong's early works were taken from familiar people or things around him. Resting is one of the works exhibited at the Chinese Modern Art Exhibition in early 1989.This painting was also the first painting when he was assigned as a teacher in Fine Arts School Affiliated to China Central Academy of Fine Arts when he graduated from Central Academy of Fine Arts. At that time, the school gave him a quiet single studio with dim light. In this small studio, Liu Xiaodong was faced with people and things compressed to the simplest state. Therefore, “the surroundings” became the theme of his painting. Resting was the creation born in this turning point. The figures of two men fulfilled the picture, lying freely on the bed. The front one seems to be asleep with his whole body in a relaxed condition. The other one behind him is dressed neatly, looking outside the picture with vigilance and vigor. The daily necessities, such as the electric furnace and paper boxed under the bed as well as the plastic paper and leather gloves on the desk, are arranged carefully into the space in order to add the relationship with reality. The composition of the picture appears to be congested, even has a trend of forward approach that makes people have to watch the reality of the subject. Facing the two men in the painting, the viewer cannot help but give a guess to the identity and relationship of these men. However, it is not able to find out the significance of the whole scene presented by the picture. A sense of ambiguous is fulfilled in the picture. Perhaps the correlation between them is based only on the coexistence of physical space, but actually they are in the separation of their own monologues. The subtle relationship between these two people in this double-portrait painting makes people feel that there are some vague and uncertain things in the picture. This kind of vagueness can reflect the contradictions and tensions in reality better, giving the picture a meaning that cannot be accurately controlled. Perhaps due to this kind of reason, Liu Xiaodong's works in this period often had the composition of double-portrait.
Liu Xiaodong focused on painting the survival conditions in contemporary society, and he was the first artist that drew accurately of the general mental conditions of his generation. The common conditions such as emptiness and dullness are put on the canvas by artists. An insurmountable gap exists between two people looked to be familiar, which clearly reveals the loneliness of the essence of human existence. As Fan Di'an, president of the China Artists Association and dean of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, commented on Liu Xiaodong's work in the Chinese Modern Art Exhibition in the 1990s: “His earnest trust in reality has unearthed the new meaning of realistic or figurative painting. The state of reality is unobtrusively displayed—more precisely, the realism and firmness of the character's spirit in reality, so that his work has a realistic connotation.”
Liu Xiaodong has always insisted on realism, but he emphasizes “documentary” and “directness” to realism, which is also a spiritual way he chooses that is different from other artists. In terms of this, Liu Xiaodong expressed his opinions in an article The Spirit of Realism: “Realism is a creating method that truly reflects the times. In this particular history point of China, the reality must have its strong vitality. As long as you don't lose the 'eyes' of realism and don't forget the realism spirit of participating in society as well as reflecting reality, realism paintings will always have a strong vitality.” Liu Xiaodong is painting with this kind of realist spirit, focusing on daily life and familiar characters and concentrates on reflecting the independence and alienation of ordinary people's survival status. He tries to step away from the trend and embarrassment, showing a living condition of contemporary society. This is also the reason why Liu Xiaodong's works are still full of vitality in the moment.
