Lot 310: GONG LILONG

GONG LILONG B.1953 DANCING COUPLE AND MOON Signed in Chinese and dated 2003.5 (lower left) Executed in 2003 oil on canvas 180 by 180 cm.; 70 7/8 by 70 7/8 in.

Private Asian Collection

Gong Lilong graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts in 1982 and is currently Vice Professor of his old university department and Vice President of the Fine Arts Institute of Shenyang Province. From his student-days until now, he has continuously won awards such as 3rd Prize in the 2nd National Young Artist Award, the Award for Excellence in the 1992 Guangzhou Three Year Exhibition and First Prize at the National Oil Painting Exhibition. Gong Lilong's artistic world is not a sad one; the theme of his works is most often people, distorted under his brush to look like round Tang Dynasty figurines, and always in a happy mood. The work Dancing Couple and Moon depicts the slow enchanted dance of two lovers under the moon. Their exaggerated expressions and body language convey the artist's sense of humour and positive outlook on life.