The Paris Notes

"In October 1988, Mr. Mitsuo Yamazaki, President of Seibu Department Stores, Ltd., proposed, 'We will organize La Foire de Paris in Tokyo in the coming October, and would like to invite you to create a Paris landscape collection for the event. Would you and Mrs. Wu be able to come to Paris?' Little did he know that I was drawn to this idea strongly. When I studied in Paris as an art student, I devoured and was fascinated by Western art. Forty years passed, I am getting older. Came back, I use my oriental hands and eyes to paint the old Parisnew Paris. There are much to feel about, not least to paint! I accepted Mr. Yamazaki's invitation and returned to Paris in the chilling Spring this year (1989). Before I left, I visited my alma mater out of remembrance…and inquired about the whereabouts of my late teacher, the reputable Professor Souverbie. He often reminded me that there were two types of art, the minor type entertains, while the major one touches hearts." --Wu Guanzhong, The Paris Notes

In Spring of 1989, Wu visited Paris again for a month. With mixed feelings, the artist, now 70 years old, savoured the fond memories of his time in the capital as a student, and was eager to revisit the iconic landmarks, such as Chateau de Versailles, Montmartre, Musee du Louvre, Fontainebleau and Barbizon. He might have a different role, but his passion for art remained the same after four decades.

La Maison de la Reine (Lot 363) painted in 1989 was completed after the trip. Wu portrayed the private villa of Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI, built in 1783 with ex-pressive and sweeping brushstrokes. The rustic country house contrasted with the splendour of Chateau de Versailles sharply. Spaces are experienced by the mood transmitted within. To ex-press his personal feeling toward this space, he extracted the essence of this Western building through his oriental eyes and hands, and adjusted the composition so that most of the canvas was taken up by the blue sky, white clouds and the lakeside. The three tree trunks that almost pierce through the composition in the foreground and the trees nearby highlight the relationship between the landscape and Nature. In his painting, La Maison de la Reine is not part of the old Paris, but represents the bright new Paris, attesting to the unique path the artist discovered in Paris over the past 40 years.

巴黎筆記

“1988年10月，Seibu百貨公司總裁三井山崎先生提議，‘我們將于明年10月在東京組織巴黎的La Foire de Paris，并希望邀請您為這次活動創(chuàng)建一個巴黎景觀收藏。你和吳太太能來巴黎嗎？“他幾乎不知道我被這個想法深深地吸引住了。當(dāng)我在巴黎學(xué)習(xí)藝術(shù)時，我沉迷于西方藝術(shù)。四十年過去了，我越來越老了。回來后，我用我東方的雙手和眼睛來描繪舊巴黎。有很多感覺，尤其是繪畫！我接受了山崎先生的邀請，今年(1989年)在寒冷的春天返回巴黎。在我離開之前，為了紀念…，我拜訪了我的母校。并詢問我已故老師，著名的Souverbie教授的下落。他經(jīng)常提醒我，有兩種類型的藝術(shù)，一種是小類型的娛樂，另一種是感人的.“，”巴黎筆記“吳冠中

1989年春，吳冠中再次訪問巴黎一個月。這位現(xiàn)年70歲的藝術(shù)家?guī)е鴱?fù)雜的心情，品味了他在首都上學(xué)時的美好回憶，并渴望重溫標(biāo)志性的地標(biāo)建筑，如凡爾賽莊園、蒙馬特莊園、盧浮宮博物館、楓丹白露和巴比森(Barbizon)。他可能扮演著不同的角色，但四十年后，他對藝術(shù)的熱情依然不變。

拉米森·德拉雷恩(第363批)于1989年完成了這一旅行。吳描繪了瑪麗·安托瓦內(nèi)特(MarieAntoinette)的私人別墅，她是路易十六(LouisXVI)的妻子，建于1783年。鄉(xiāng)村別墅與凡爾賽莊園的輝煌形成鮮明對比?？臻g是通過內(nèi)在的情緒來體驗的。為了發(fā)泄他對這一空間的個人感受，他通過東方的眼睛和雙手，提煉出這座西方建筑的精髓，并調(diào)整構(gòu)圖，使大部分的畫布被藍天、白云和湖邊所占據(jù)。這三棵幾乎穿透前景和附近樹木組成的樹干突出了景觀與自然之間的關(guān)系。在他的畫中，拉米森·德拉·雷恩不再是舊巴黎的一部分，而是代表了明亮的新巴黎，證明了這位藝術(shù)家在過去40年里在巴黎發(fā)現(xiàn)的獨特道路。

WU GUANZHONG (CHINA, 1919-2010)

LA MAISON DE LA REINE (THE MANSION OF THE QUEEN)

成交總額HKD 6,660,000

估價HKD 1,800,000 - HKD 2,200,000

亞洲二十世紀藝術(shù) （日間拍賣） auction at Christies

拍賣 12523

亞洲二十世紀藝術(shù) （日間拍賣）

Hong Kong, HKCEC Grand Hall|2016年11月27日 

拍品 363

signed and dated in Chinese; titled 'LA MAISON DE LA REINE' (lower left)

oil on canvas

52 x 45 cm. (20 1/2 x 18 3/4 in.)

Painted in 1989

來源

Anon. sale, Christie's Hong Kong, 1 Nov 1999, Lot 306

Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

Tokyo Seibu Department Store, Wu Guanzhong: Paris, Tokyo, Japan, 1989 (illustrated, plate 24, p. 23).

Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, The Complete Works of Wu Guanzhong Vol. III, China , 2007 (illustrated, p. 251)