National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Yang Sanlang 1986-1995, Taipei, Taiwan, 1995, p. 19. (illustrated)
Provenance
Private Collection, Asia
Notes
"I sought for beauty with the innocent passion that was my nature; I rushed headlong into the great mansions of art and never looked back. I paint directly from natural scenes because I revere nature and I believe in the strength and inspiration within it. Only direct contact with nature can bring the self together with the unlimited, and show us nature's purest and most moving aspect."
- Yang Sanlang, Foreword to The Early Lions of Chinese art.
Yang Sanlang's account of his experience gives us a glimpse of the vision, the creative quest, of the earliest group of Taiwan artists painting in a western media, who borrowed realist concepts but developed a style with a strong, local Taiwanese flavuor. In nearby Japan during the 1920s and '30s, painting continued its evolution after absorbing western styles, rediscovering traditional eastern aesthetics and moving into a deeper exploration of the "Japanization" of western painting. Yang Sanlang was a chief representative of these artists who were educated in Western styles, but emphasized personal, subjective views and an eastern ambience. The modern thinking and realist ideas they brought back to Taiwan broke through painting traditions there that stretched all the way back to the literati of the Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions. By the time of the first National Taiwan Exhibition in 1927, critical opinions in Taiwan's official and academic circles were united in the desire for modern painting styles capable of conveying its rich local color, and the feel of the southern regions, that derived from the island's unique climate and beautiful natural scenery.
The most highly regarded works in Yang Sanlang's oeuvre are the depictions of natural scenes he created out of doors. Aside from certain influences from Naturalism and Impressionism, Yang's work is an exploration of the mysteries of life and nature in which painting on site brought him closer to a sense of the earth's great energies. Even on the still surface of a canvas he could express the surge of great waves as they break into foam in the foreground or extend majestically into the distance to meet the sky. For works such as these, Yang eschewed the practice of working from photographs, and would instead make sketches on site. Yang believed, as he said, that "painting from life is pure creativity." He strove to express the spontaneous creative impulse he felt while observing a scene, composing and filling out forms in quick bursts of inspiration.
'Snowy Mountain' (Lot 239), painted in 1982, entails a breath-taking portrayal of mountain vista. The composition enfolds as layers of depth and perspective, the foreground mountain is captured in a warm ochre with touches of rich red and green foliage. Beyond this the aura of a cold mountain is imbued in the deep chromacity of blue and white, progressing to the furtherest and grandest mountain range depicted as an ice pale white, and evidently covered with snow. The rich warmth of the closest mountain is emulated in the rich peach and burnt umber of the sky, offering equilibrium of progression for the viewer as we scan the composition. The deep contours of the rocky mountains are perfectly projected by Yang's mastery of brushstroke and fine sense of colour. Yang's unique mixture of warmth and cool within the colour palette present a sense of unrealism to the landscape, as the colour contrasts are so defined to an extent that we would not witness in real life. This technique focuses our attention on Yang's skilled brushwork and texture to achieve such depth and definition to create an overall portrait in tune with nature.
Yang created another work in 1982 inspired by such beautiful mountain ranges; entitled 'By the Lake' (Lot 237). The vivacity and clever contrasting of colours is an immediately striking feature of this creation. A dense line of trees rich in colour and the complexity of brushstroke infringe the serene waters of a lake. We gain a sense of motion by the tones off white, deep blue and yellow that are peppered upon the surface of the cool blue water. The ground is frosted in a thick blanket of white snow that impinges upon the colourful houses and stationery rafts. In the background, the majestic grandeur of a vast white mountain frames the picturesque vista. In this composition, Yang utilises colour over fine detail to an impactual visual effect. We gain a stronger sense of his attachment and emotion to the free-flow of the scene; the finer details of the work we are thereby invited to imply ourselves, as Yang allows the free-flowing sprit of nature to seep through his works.
'Autumn' (Lot 238) captures the vivid golden hues of the changing season. Yang sets his scene against a pale blue sky, rich with texture and soft wisps of cloud. The vista he portrays is an idyllic country scene where small white cottages rest on the out-skits of a seemingly dense forest. The impinging autumn season is visually instilled by the subtle changes in the tree leaves in the foreground, as they progress from a brilliant green to a warmer shade of yellow. The vibrant burst of flame red on a more distant tree creates a strong impact in comparison to the calmer tones that dominate the work. Our vantage point when viewing this work places us very much on the outside looking in, we gain a sense of distance from the scene we perceive, as though not to disturb the peaceful beauty that contains it.
Yang Sanlang's landscapes emphasize a search for the "inner beauty" of nature, which for him was especially to be found in the dense and beautiful colours of climate and sunlight, and he clearly loved the seascape as one of his chief subjects for painting from outdoors. The artist's love and intense zeal found their counterparts in his of long shorelines, the endlessly varied hues of ocean and sky and the surging wash of spray against ocean shores. In a manner similar to Monet's fascination with the sea in his later years, Yan Sanlang's interpretation of the subject was fashioned by an artistic style and personal circumstances that were uniquely his own.
