Artist - The Hefner Collection

Sanyu (Chang Yu)

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Double Nudes, C. 1950's
Ink on Paper
22" x 18" (59cm x 46cm)
About this work
Sanyu first experienced working with nude models in life drawing classes at the Academie de la Grande ChaumiEre in Paris in 1923. For a young Chinese artist who had never been exposed to this in his country, the availability of models in Paris was exciting and Sanyu spent a great deal of his early career producing figure studies like this one in ink and pencil on paper. Sanyu was especially interested in what he called “the beauty of the flowing line.” His drawings, like Chinese brush and ink paintings, are characteristically spare and deliberate.
Nap, C. 1950's
Ink on Paper
17 3/4" x 10 7/8" (45cm x 26cm)
About this work
Sanyu first experienced working with nude models in life drawing classes at the Academie de la Grande ChaumiEre in Paris in 1923. For a young Chinese artist who had never been exposed to this in his country, the availability of models in Paris was exciting and Sanyu spent a great deal of his early career producing figure studies like this one in ink and pencil on paper. Sanyu was especially interested in what he called “the beauty of the flowing line.” His drawings, like Chinese brush and ink paintings, are characteristically spare and deliberate.

Pang Maokun

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The Apples Are Ripe II, 1999
Oil on Canvas
50" x 35" (127cm x 89cm)
About this work
Pang Maokun produced two similar works entitled “The Apples Are Ripe” this one being the second painting he did of the subject, a woman of the Yi minority of Sichuan. The original painting made in 1983 gained him much acclaim and was a prizewinner in the Sixth National Art Exhibition held in Beijing in 1984. Pang Maokun says that he was drawn to the idea of painting this scene when he saw the woman squatting in an orchard against a backdrop of apple trees. She has been hired to protect the ripening apples from anyone who might try to steal them. Her hands are raised to shield her eyes as something attracts her attention. She wears a black dress, heavily pleated apron and broad bamboo hat bound in black cloth that are characteristic of her people. The texture and detail in the painting is expertly handled by the artist who says he was also attracted to the subject because of the textures and contrasts he thought he could interpret.

Pan Yuliang

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Posing, 1950
Chinese Ink and Color on Rice Paper
19 1/2" x 13" (49.3cm x 33cm)
About this work
This is a combination of impressionist and Chinese traditional ink wash techniques. Posing was done in exquisitely fine yet powerful lines. She chose Chinese ink and colour on rice paper as the suitable medium. Yuliang invented this unique style of nude human figure paintings, using style of hues and fine, flowing lines for a delicate and animated curvilinear figure.

Mao Lizi

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Ancient China, 1986
Oil on Board
32" x 32" (81.3cm x 81.3cm)
About this work
According to Mao Lizi, his unique style has three basic elements: it is photographic, but not photorealist; it is somewhat abstract, but not about abstraction; and often, it employs the techniques of trompe l’oeil painting. Mao Lizi has said of his work, “I can’t compare my paintings to others by contemporary Chinese artists and I don’t think I’ve been influenced by any particular Western style either. I would describe what I do as Popular art. That doesn’t mean Pop art. I want my paintings to look exactly like what they are. If I paint a wall with graffiti or torn paper as in ‘Ancient China’ then it has to be the same size as the wall I remembered. If I add things:: it is only to get the viewer to see reality in a different way, but it is still about what I saw. It is about reality.”
New Life, 1988
Oil on Board
32" x 36" (81cm x 91cm)
About this work
According to Mao Lizi, his unique style has three basic elements: it is photographic, but not photorealist; it is somewhat abstract, but not about abstraction; and often, it employs the techniques of trompe l’oeil painting. Mao Lizi has said of his work, “I can’t compare my paintings to others by contemporary Chinese artists and I don’t think I’ve been influenced by any particular Western style either. I would describe what I do as Popular art. That doesn’t mean Pop art. I want my paintings to look exactly like what they are. If I paint a wall then my painting has to be the same size as the wall I remembered. If I add things, it is only to get the viewer to see reality in a different way, but it is still about what I saw. It is about reality.”

Luo Zhongli

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Spring Silkworms, 1980
Oil on Canvas
93" x 56" (236cm x 142cm)
About this work
Luo Zhongli has said about his painting “Spring Silkworms” that the subject was very close to him because he had worked on a silkworm farm and remembered the experience in great detail. “I read a poem that said, ‘like a candle that burns bright until it is burned up, the silkworm never dies until the last of its silk is given out.’ So, I used a symbolic language in creating this painting. The grandmother’s hair resembles the silk she is harvesting and, like the worm, she will work all her life until she can work no more and then she will die.” While Luo Zhongli has painted the figure of the grandmother in shadow, the delicacy of the strands of her hair are brilliantly lit, almost as if in spotlight and her bent head serves as a focal point. The viewer cannot see her face, but the detail in her aged hands is exceptional as are the creases in her dress. The bright contrast of the green leaf from which she has pulled a silkworm becomes a secondary focal point, balancing this monumental work.
Sketch for Spring Silkworms, 1980
Charcoal on Paper
20" x 16" (51cm x 40 1/2cm)
About this work
Luo Zhongli says that the reason he chooses to paint peasants as his main subjects is because his family was from the country and he grew up there and they are the people he knows. In researching subjects for his paintings, Luo Zhongli often travels back to his homeland in the Zomba mountains to sketch the faces of the people he grew up with. “Spring Silkworms” was the result of detailed drawings he did of both the complete figure and hands of this “grandmother” he says he knew quite well.
Sketch for Spring Silkworms, 1980
Charcoal on Paper
16" x 14" (41cm x 35 1/2cm)
About this work
Luo Zhongli says that the reason he chooses to paint peasants as his main subjects is because his family was from the country and he grew up there and they are the people he knows. In researching subjects for his paintings, Luo Zhongli often travels back to his homeland in the Zomba mountains to sketch the faces of the people he grew up with. “Spring Silkworms” was the result of detailed drawings he did of both the complete figure and hands of this “grandmother” he says he knew quite well.
Smoking Old Man, 1980
Oil on Canvas
9" x 7 7/8" (23cm x 20cm)
About this work
The subject of this painting was a man Luo Zhongli says he spent a lot of time with sketching and painting in the village where he grew up. Field studies like this become research for paintings Luo Zhongli produces later. Often, many studies will be used for a completed painting, although, as in the case of this particular study, he says he likes the small pieces better than the larger canvases he completes.
Father II, 1982
Oil on Canvas
105" x 64" (227cm x 162 1/2cm)
About this work
Luo Zhongli is perhaps best known for a trilogy of large paintings that began when he created “Father” in 1980. It won first prize in the Second National Youth Fine Art Exhibition, Beijing in 1982 and became a part of the collection of the National Art Museum of China. It was followed in 1980 by “Spring Silkworms” and in 1982 by “Father II”. Luo Zhongli says about the paintings, “During the Cultural Revolution I was required to paint a lot of political pictures in a large heroic size including many portraits of Mao. After the Cultural Revolution, I wanted to create works that would summarize how I felt about the peasants I grew up with in the country. I wanted to make monumental works honoring them.” Luo Zhongli’s ‘Father’ paintings have become icons in the contemporary Chinese art world. The only time they were ever exhibited together, however, was in 1987 when Robert Hefner included them along with “Spring Silkworms” in his Harkness House exhibition of Chinese oil paintings in New York.
Sketch for Father II, 1982
Charcoal on Paper
20" x 16" (51cm x 40 1/2cm)
About this work
In researching subjects for his paintings, Luo Zhongli often travels back to his homeland in the Zomba mountains to sketch the faces of the people he grew up with. "Father II" was the result of several detailed sketches he did of two different subjects. In this final compilation drawing, the artist has arrived at exactly what he wants the portrait to look like. Given the painting’s large size (105" x 64 3/4") the artist has drawn the work first, using a grid to estimate how large it will be when it is ‘sized up’ on the canvas. Each square represents approximately one square foot of the completed painting. Mural painters use this scaling device to maintain accuracy from drawing to finished work.
Sketches for Father II, 1982
Charcoal on Paper
26" x 29" (66cm x 73 1/2cm)
About this work
In researching subjects for his paintings, Luo Zhongli often travels back to his homeland in the Zomba mountains to sketch the faces of the people he grew up with. "Father II" was the result of several detailed sketches he did of two different subjects.
Peasant Man, 1982
Charcoal on Paper
21 1/2" x 16 1/2" (54 1/2cm x 42cm)
About this work
In researching subjects for his paintings, Luo Zhongli often travels back to his homeland in the Zomba mountains to sketch the faces of the people he grew up with. “Father II” was the result of several detailed sketches he did of two different subjects.
Early Spring Sunlight, 1993
Oil on Canvas
24" x 31 7/8" (61cm x 81cm)
About this work
All of Luo Zhongli’s subjects for his paintings come from the land and the people he grew up with in Sichuan. This portrait of a young girl watching over a pair of horses depicts a snowy, isolated landscape on a brightly lit day. The monochromatic color palette of blues and whites adds to the feeling that it is cold; the horses huddle together for warmth even in the sunlight. The strong shadows cast on the girl’s back give the scene perspective and depth. The style in which this piece was painted falls between Luo Zhongli’s early 1980’s and post-1990s work.
Untitled, 2000
Oil on Paper
19 1/2" x 15 1/2" (46 1/2 cm x 39cm)
About this work
Over the course of a career, a painter may change styles several times. There are, of course, no rules for creativity so it is different for each artist. The style reflected in this painting by Luo Zhongli is one that has evolved over twenty years of study and experimentation. It has been compared to Van Gogh’s form of painting, but in truth the process by which Luo Zhongli arrives at his completed canvases is far more complex than that of Van Gogh. What the viewer sees is bright color and heavy form. What one cannot see, however, is the way in which the artist develops his composition through a series of layers; first sketching in the painting in black, then outlining in white, and finally, adding masses of color while carefully allowing the underpainting to show through. Luo Zhongli’s paintings always involve interpretations of the daily life of the peasants that he grew up with in the fields and mountains of Sichuan province. They are close to his heart, and like Van Gogh, Luo Zhongli is an artist ‘of the people.’
Untitled, 2001
Oil on Paper
21 1/2" x 15 1/2" (55cm x 39cm)
About this work
Over the course of a career, a painter may change styles several times. There are, of course, no rules for creativity so it is different for each artist. The style reflected in this painting by Luo Zhongli is one that has evolved over twenty years of study and experimentation. It has been compared to Van Gogh’s form of painting, but in truth the process by which Luo Zhongli arrives at his completed canvases is far more complex than that of Van Gogh. What the viewer sees is bright color and heavy form. What one cannot see, however, is the way in which the artist develops his composition through a series of layers; first sketching in the painting in black, then outlining in white, and finally, adding masses of color while carefully allowing the underpainting to show through. Luo Zhongli’s paintings always involve interpretations of the daily life of the peasants that he grew up with in the fields and mountains of Sichuan province. They are close to his heart, and like Van Gogh, Luo Zhongli is an artist ‘of the people.’

Luo Erchun

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Autumn Harvest, 1987
Oil on Canvas
40" x 40" (101 1/2cm x 101 1/2cm)
About this work
Luo Erchun had spent a good part of his professional painting career living in Paris and has been influenced the most by the Post Impressionists. He had managed his paintings to blend the fluid lines and color schemes of landscape painting practiced by the Impressionists, with the figurative composition traditional Chinese brush painters have utilized. In “Autumn Harvest” the figure of a woman resting during harvest work fills the canvas top to bottom. She is painted in muted colors of black, white, and grey. The background she is set against is expansive and colorful and while it is relatively flat in its perspective, the bright yellow of the haystack directly in back of the figure gives the composition depth.
Festival, 1987
Oil on Canvas
72" x 63" (183cm x 160cm)
About this work
Luo Erchun had said about “Festival”, “I painted this from sketches I did of many different faces and figures I found when I attended a minority festival in southern Hunan. It is comprised of many different scenes, but the general impression is of what one might experience at the festival just as I did. It is quite colorful and joyful and I wanted to express this feeling.”
Grassland, 1987
Oil on Canvas
46" x 36" (116cm x 91cm)
About this work
Luo Erchun had spent a good part of his professional painting career living in Paris and has been influenced the most by the Post Impressionists. He had managed his paintings to blend the fluid lines and color schemes of landscape painting practiced by the Impressionists, with the figurative composition traditional Chinese brush painters have utilized.
Mountain, 1987
Oil on Canvas
36" x 46" (91cm x 116cm)
About this work
Luo Erchun had spent a good part of his professional painting career living in Paris and has been influenced the most by the Post Impressionists. He had managed his paintings to blend the fluid lines and color schemes of landscape painting practiced by the Impressionists, with the figurative composition traditional Chinese brush painters have utilized.
The Hill, 1985
Oil on Canvas
51" x 45" (129cm x 114cm)
About this work
Luo Erchun had spent a good part of his professional painting career living in Paris and has been influenced the most by the Post Impressionists. He had managed his paintings to blend the fluid lines and color schemes of landscape painting practiced by the Impressionists, with the figurative composition traditional Chinese brush painters have utilized.

Liu Haisu

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Sunrise at West Lake, 1928
Oil on Canvas
23 5/8" x 29" (60cm x 73 1/2cm)
About this work
This is a particularly good example of a late 1920’s work by Liu Haisu, who at that time in his career was concerned with integrating modern western painting techniques with Chinese practices. West Lake in Hangzhou has inspired many Chinese artists because of its natural beauty and the unusual quality of light on the lake at sunrise and sunset. While this work may be reminiscent of Post Impressionist paintings by Cezanne or Fauvist examples by Matisse, clearly it contains brushstrokes that could have come from a traditional Chinese landscape. The near-far composition also uses aspects of Chinese landscape art.

Liu Bingjiang

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By The Seashore, 1982
Oil on Canvas
17" x 23" (43cm x 58.5cm)
About this work
Liu Bingjiang has used an impressionistic style to interpret a simple scene of fishermen sorting their nets in mid-day along a rocky coast. His use of color is all that gives the picture its perspective. Interestingly, Liu Bingjiang has used only three colors: blue, yellow, and white; it is the way in which he has handled the tonality that makes the painting appear to have more color.

Liu Aimin

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Sisters, 1984
Oil on Canvas
51" x 63" (129 1/2cm x 160cm)
About this work
“Sisters” depicts the hard life that the Red Army experienced during the Long March (1934). It was particularly difficult for female soldiers and the artist has given the painting the title as a way of saying that these four women had to unite as ‘sisters’ to survive. Their clothing and the decorative sword on the back of the figure in the foreground indicate that maybe they were members of a cultural troupe and not combatants. Buried in the arms of the woman who lies directly underneath the hat is an infant. One can only imagine the hardships these individuals experienced. This poignant scene is painted in a Socialist Realist style commonly taught in Chinese art academies in the 1950’s and 1960’s. As “Sisters” was painted, however, in 1984, it is a reminder that young artists in the Post Cultural Revolution period of the 1980’s were still transitioning both technically and ideologically.

Lin Hongji

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Boat Carrying Grass, 1987
Oil on Canvas
30" x 40" (76cm x 101 1/2cm)
About this work
Lin Hongji has undoubtedly been influenced by the intriguing landscape of his homeland in the semi-tropical area of Guangzhou in Guangdong province and the many inlets and waterways in this coastal area have provided numerous subjects for him to paint. In “Boat Carrying Grass”, he has used a style reminiscent of the Barbizon school. The soft impressionistic brush strokes, twilight illumination and peaceful composition suggests that life in this region is far removed from the bustle of China’s burgeoning cities.
Summer Afternoon, 1988
Oil on Canvas
22" x 28" (59cm x 71cm)
About this work
Lin Hongji has undoubtedly been influenced by the intriguing landscape of his homeland in the semi-tropical area of Guangzhou in Guangdong province and the many inlets and waterways in this coastal area have provided numerous subjects for him to paint. The soft impressionistic brush strokes, twilight illumination and peaceful composition of this painting suggests that life in this region is far removed from the bustle of China’s burgeoning cities.