SANYU (1901-1966)

Sanyu was one of the Chinese painters of the early 20th century who achieved a place on the world stage. The exceptionally clean aesthetic his work leaves viewers with a lasting impression of meaning and harmony. Sanyu studied painting at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris in early 1920s when a number of important artists such as Picasso and Modigliani congregated in Paris. The liberating creative environment combined with Sanyu's progressive views allowed him to transcend deconstructionism and move towards minimalism and abstraction.

The Académie became an important starting point for Sanyu to observe the human figure and to paint nude portraits, which would later develop into his most celebrated subject, the female nude. Untitled (Standing Nude) (Lot 51) & Untitled (Standing Nude) (Lot 52) depict the contour of his subject with minimalist calligraphic lines. The forms are set against empty space, remaining true to the Eastern philosophy values the concept of 'less is more,' which also gives a sense of unity of self and other, or of correspondence between man and the larger cosmos.