ZHONG CHENG

Zhong Cheng 2024 Autumn Auction「Modern And Contemporary Art」
- Download
162

LEIGH WEN (b.1959)

Peony 8

2016

Oil on Linen
154 x 170 cm

Signed on the reverse: Leigh Wen in English and Chinese, titled in Chinese, media in English, size 154 x 170 cm, dated 2016

Estimate TWD 2,200,000-3,200,000
USD 68,900-100,300
HKD 0-0

Hammer Price TWD 2,640,000
USD 81,607
HKD 637,681

Provenance：

Illustrated：

Exhibition：

Exposition：

Born in 1959 in Yingge, Taipei, Leigh Wen has spent many years residing in the United States, with her studio located in New York. In 2015, she opened a second studio in Taipei, Taiwan. With nearly forty years of experience as a professional painter, Cheng was named one of Asia's Top Ten Outstanding Young Talents in 1980 in Hong Kong. She moved to the U.S. in 1983 for further studies, and in 1998, she was honored as an Honorary Artist by the State of New York. She has received multiple awards from the Jackson Pollock Foundation in 1999 and 2005 and was invited by then-First Lady Laura Bush to the White House for a state dinner.

Leigh Wen’s oil paintings break from traditional methods of layering, instead utilizing scraping techniques and mark-making to create lines that serve as her artistic signature. With masterful control of color gradients and spatial depth, her work embodies a distinctive style of "subtractive art."

Her artistic philosophy is deeply inspired by the four essential elements of the universe—earth, air, water, and fire—as understood by Western philosophy. Each line in her work reveals a hidden thread of meaning, leading the viewer to explore her personal interpretations of thought. These lines, almost alive, emerge from nothingness and grow freely across the canvas—sometimes tight and concentrated, other times loose and expansive—imbuing her paintings with both richness and playfulness. Her subjects also reflect the philosophical ideas of Eastern culture, resulting in a uniquely engaging and appealing artistic style.

View More Works