Chang Yu is an example of a standard literary tragedy.
Recently introduced Christie’s confirmed that at the end of the year’s autumn auction, they will bring the world-shocking masterpiece of the Asian abstract master Zao Wou-Ki. The auction immediately brought another astonishing news, confirming that another master’s hall-level collection will be present at the autumn auction – bringing in Sanyu’s 1930s work “Pink Chrysanthemum in a Basket”, estimated to be worth HK$68 to 98 million.
In recent years, there has been a craze for “Chang Yu’s World” in art collecting, with flowers and nude women being the two major themes that accompanied Chang Yu throughout his life. The artwork appearing in this autumn auction is also one of the representative works in the “Flowers” category. Although it is not the groundbreaking “Chrysanthemums in a Blue and White Basin” that sold for HK$191 million in July, the piece presented at this auction is considered more valuable in terms of background and artistic creation.
The “Basket of Pink Chrysanthemums” that debuted at the end of the year was created by Chang Yu in 1931, which was the period when Chang Yu had just embarked on the first peak of his career. Chang Yu, who excelled in expressing lines and emotions, created a profound sense of space with the penetrating lines of the branches and flower basket in “Basket of Pink Chrysanthemums.” This made the Western art schools that were quite fond of Chinese paintings at the time reevaluate Chinese art works, line perceptions, and Chang Yu himself.
Before the start of the auction, “Basket of Pink Chrysanthemums” received such high praise because it is one of Chang Yu’s early works that references the patterns of Chinese blue and white porcelain. Art critics have noted the illusionary layers created by the pink and white oil paint patterns in the artwork, especially against the deep black background, which fully reflects the intertwining colors and patterns of blue and white porcelain, as well as the interaction between pattern and background. In addition, Chang Yu’s innovative scraping brush technique outlines the flowers, illustrating a new concept of “real and unreal” in traditional paintings.
「那是隻小象，在一望無垠的沙漠中奔馳……那就是我」
Unfortunately, this Oriental art figure, who grew up in the “Art Capital” of Paris, always followed his own path in his creative journey. Even when living in a foreign land, he pursued spiritual freedom. Despite facing family tragedies in his later years and falling into extreme poverty, he still maintained his integrity, exuding a carefree and elegant attitude towards life from his very core. Therefore, Chen Wen Hsi was not only known as the “Oriental Matisse,” some even say he was the first nobleman in contemporary Oriental art history. Sadly, he ultimately died from gas poisoning, and in his later years of poverty and hardship, he was buried in a neglected cemetery until discovered by later generations of art dealers, who then gave him a proper burial.
