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Lot Essay
Dramatic, almost vertical cliffs, dark crags, unusual rock formations, lone trees, and surreal clouds and mist are just a few of the striking visual elements in Li Huayi’s painting Landscape. Viewed from eye level, these elements combine to form a breathtaking composition that is both precise and abstract, reminiscent of the monumental landscapes of the Northern Song dynasty while also offering a contemporary sense of movement and three-dimensionality.
Landscape stands as a magnificent representation of Li Huayi’s artistic prowess in the 2000s. The landscape, rich in delicate details, is juxtaposed against an expressive splashed-ink background, with painstakingly added photorealistic elements using the gongbi technique to portray the pine trees and jagged rocks emerging from the depths. The artist once said he was “most attracted to the serenity and purity in Northern Song dynasty landscape – it is a purity of the heart that touches beyond the technique of the brush. The power of the ink manifests itself as pure expression.”
Originally from Shanghai, Li Huayi began his artistic journey by studying traditional Chinese painting under Wang Jimei, the son of the renowned artist Wang Zhen. At the age of sixteen, he was introduced to Western art through the artist Zhang Chongren, who had studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. In the 1970s, Li worked as a propaganda artist, an experience that motivated him to seek a novel visual language in his artistry. In 1982, Li Huayi and his wife relocated to San Francisco, where he enrolled at the Academy of Art to study Western art, graduating with a master’s degree in 1984. As one of the most internationally renowned Chinese ink artists, Li Huayi has been the focus of prestigious solo exhibitions at esteemed institutions such as the Honolulu Museum of Art in 2019 and the Suzhou Museum in 2017.
Landscape stands as a magnificent representation of Li Huayi’s artistic prowess in the 2000s. The landscape, rich in delicate details, is juxtaposed against an expressive splashed-ink background, with painstakingly added photorealistic elements using the gongbi technique to portray the pine trees and jagged rocks emerging from the depths. The artist once said he was “most attracted to the serenity and purity in Northern Song dynasty landscape – it is a purity of the heart that touches beyond the technique of the brush. The power of the ink manifests itself as pure expression.”
Originally from Shanghai, Li Huayi began his artistic journey by studying traditional Chinese painting under Wang Jimei, the son of the renowned artist Wang Zhen. At the age of sixteen, he was introduced to Western art through the artist Zhang Chongren, who had studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. In the 1970s, Li worked as a propaganda artist, an experience that motivated him to seek a novel visual language in his artistry. In 1982, Li Huayi and his wife relocated to San Francisco, where he enrolled at the Academy of Art to study Western art, graduating with a master’s degree in 1984. As one of the most internationally renowned Chinese ink artists, Li Huayi has been the focus of prestigious solo exhibitions at esteemed institutions such as the Honolulu Museum of Art in 2019 and the Suzhou Museum in 2017.