Legendary Chinese French painter's floral still-life to lead HK auction

Chinese French artist Zao Wou-ki once said of the work of Sanyu, another Chinese painter also based in Paris, that "the most delicate works of Sanyu are precisely those paintings that are the simplest, where nothing is concealed".

Potted Prunus exemplifies Sanyu's maturity in art with minimal forms and colors, combining both Eastern and Western traditions. In this still-life he painted a Chinese floral pot of prunus flowers, in white and dotted pink, standing on an orange tablecloth and against a pure black background.

The branches remind one of the strokes and structure of Chinese calligraphy and rubbing, while the contrast between the white and black hints at an intertwined relation between nothingness and abundance in Chinese philosophy. The patterns on the tablecloth, drawn from those on Chinese antiquities, reveal his homesickness.

Potted Prunus will be sold at Christie's auction in Hong Kong on Nov 30. Besides Sanyu's painting, the auctioneer's autumn sales will cover a wide range of works of art, from classic Chinese paintings and ceramics to art of the 20th and 21st centuries.