ZHONG CHENG

  • Zhong Cheng 2024 Autumn Auction「Modern And Contemporary Art」
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    WALASSE TING (1929-2010)

    Sunday Morning Breakfast

    1986

    Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Canvas
    124.5 x 190 cm

    Signed on the reverse: Ting and titled in English, dated 1986, in Amsterdam

    Estimate TWD 6,800,000-8,500,000
    USD 213,000-266,300
    HKD 0-0

    Hammer Price TWD 7,920,000
    USD 244,822
    HKD 1,913,043

Provenance：1. Bought directly from the artist 2. Private Collection, U.S.A.

Illustrated：

Exhibition：

Exposition：

Whenever I see a lovely woman or a beautiful flower, the unpredictable sensibility within me would be stirred up. Women and flowers fill me with energy and vitality, giving me sentiments that I have never experienced before, as if I was reborn. I use colors of different tones, and let this energy and admiration explode on the canvas.--- Walasse Ting

In the 1970s, Walasse Ting’s painting style shifted from abstract to figurative. Besides the transformation in his painting style, his state of mind changed along as well. Ting started to paint vastly with the theme of “women,” a theme that he loved the most throughout his life. He used calligraphic brush strokes to draw the contours, then applied Chinese print painting techniques to paint bright, gorgeous, colorful flat coating lines with acrylic paints. One after another, Ting boldly depicted ravishing women, some stunning and graceful, some alluring and wild. His expressions were natural, elegant, and unrestrained. During this time, his works clearly displayed fauvist features. However, they indicated even more clearly how his experience in Europe and CoBrA had affected his painting styles. At this time, the works manifested Ting’s innate intuition of colors, and his romantic nature.

Sunday Morning Breakfast was created in 1986. Ting painted with bold, determined strokes, embellished by the colorful acrylic paints. The intertwining gorgeous colors formed a contrast with the lines. One of the women is holding a tabby cat. Like the woman, the cat also has dreamy eyes; their facial expressions are docile and lovely. One of the women has long voluminous hair, and her hair is decorated with colorful flowers. Serene and elegant, she makes people want to cherish her. The last woman, with a bouquet in her hands, shows an immense charm. Her glance reveals her allure and loveliness. The colors in the painting are dazzling and captivating, and the strokes are bold and unrestrained. The women, the cat, and the flowers are nestling in the painting, showing a summer-like excitement and vibrancy. Moreover, they embody a pure sensation of pleasure and an absolute enjoyment.

Professor Yaoyi Xi at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts commented, “Walasse Ting was a real man of his time. He didn’t care about earthly views, but instead, he freely used his paintings to express his emotions. There are no worldly, sophisticated hypocrisy and pretentiousness in his works. He loved magnanimously.” Ting made all the colors the pillar of his life. Encountering the vanity on earth, Ting put together naturally beautiful women, flowers, birds, and cats. He used his brushes to define his perspective, making him a maverick in the society back then. Meanwhile, it was also a salute that he gave himself, marking his proud, romantic, free spirit celebrity lifestyle. Hence, a prosperous, splendid “Ting’s Garden” became a magical power in contemporary art, making people gasp and linger in admiration.

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