Lot 668: YU YU YANG (YANG YINGFENG)

YU YU YANG (YANG YINGFENG) 1926-1997 FIRE DANCING signed in Chinese and numbered 12/30 (lower back) Edition 12/30 Executed in 1956 bronze sculpture 84 by 16 by 14 cm.; 33 by 6 1/4 by 5 1/2 in.

Yu Yu Yang Catalogue Raisonné, Taipei, 1995, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, p.90
Yu Yu Yang Corpus: Volume 1, Taipei, 2005, Artist Publishing Co., p.111

Private Asian Collection

Accompanied by a Guarantee Paper from the Yuyu Yang Foundation

In 1954, Yuyu Yang began to create works of the female nude and this sculpture is representative of this subject matter. In this work, Yang combines the Chinese legend of Nüwa Mends Heaven with Chinese metaphysical thought.[1] According to legend, Nüwa was the Mother of humankind. When the pillar holding up the sky was smashed in a battle between the gods, the world fell into disaster, people were plunged into misery and suffering and there was a great inferno. Nüwa sealed the broken sky using five different coloured stones and restored peace to Heaven and earth. In Fire Dancing, the slender body of a female form rises up out of the flames, as if standing and dancing on fire. Her hands are raised above her head in line with the curls of the flame which appear to be naturally restrained in movement. The figure's expression is serene and merciful, perhaps implying that she not only represents Nüwa, but is also a reference to Mother Earth, or the goddess of people's imagination. From this work, one can sense Yuyu Yang's pursuit of aesthetic beauty as well as his personal expression and philosophical considerations.

[1] Chong-ray Hsiao, Form, Image, Ideas and Concepts Four Periods in Yu Yu Yang's Sculpture Art, Ju Ming Museum Publishing, Taiwan, 2010, p.77