Li XiongCai (Chinese, 1910-2001), "Shanshui" landscape painting, watercolor on paper laid to silk.
Hand painting depicting figurines on path within red flower blooming trees against waterfall within misty mountainous landscape. Showing artist's signature followed by two iron-red seals on left. Matted with pale celadon silk border.

Dimension: 91" H x 36.5"W; Inner painting Dim: 53-7/8"H x 27.5"W

The Sale Will Benefit IFGF Church of Atlanta

LOT NOTES:
Li Xiong-Cai was born in Gaoyao of Guangdong province in (1910-2001). His father, Li Junting, was good at Chinese calligraphy and painting and excelled in the art of rubbing making.
He supported his family by mounting paintings and rubbings for others. Li Xiong-Cai had therefore received a basic training in art from his father since childhood. At the age of thirteen, Li studied in the Zhaoxing Middle School where he started to learn Chinese painting from his school teacher, Chen Jian. Chen was a favored student of the well-known Guangong painter, Ju Lian. At the age of sixteen, Li got acquainted with Gao Jianfu, the founder of the `Lingnan School' of painting. Gao gave a very high appraisal of his artistic talent. A year later, Li followed Gao to Guangzhou and became a student of the Gao's art school, the Chunshui Art Studio. He not only studied Chinese painting in school, but also received other training in art. It was during this period that he built up a very good foundation in the technique of sketching.


In 1932, he was financially supported by the Chunshui Art Studio to study fine arts in the Tokyo Art Institute. He therefore had the chance to observe various innovations that were made in painting by Japanese painters at that time. He returned to China in 1935 and from that time onwards, he had held various teaching posts in the Guangzhou Art Institute, the Guangzhou Art Academy and the National Art Academy in Chonqing.


During the war of China against Japan, Li traveled extensively in the western part of China. He toured Qujiang, Guilin, Chongqing, Chengdu, the three gorges of Chang Jiang, Mount Emei, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. He studied the details of the cultural relics found in historic sites and made a series of sketches of the places he visited. There appeared a stylistical change in his paintings after this long journey. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Li often visits rural and industrial developing centres for life ketching. He has recently made a tour to the remote region of the Qinghai Highland. Li has presented a number of one-man exhibitions and the most recent one was held in Hong Kong in 1982. During these few decades, he has produced thousands of sketches and creative paintings. Many paintings are huge in size, varying from a few metres to over ten metres long.


Since 1949, Li has taught at the Huanan Arts Institute, Zhongnan Art Academy and the Guangzhou Institute of Fine Arts. He was the Professor and Deputy Director of the Guangzhou Institute of Fine Arts.

Natural imperfection on the medium (paper or silk), regardless from any major damages; includes light blooms, discoloration and minor fading.

The bidder assumes responsibility for ensuring that the condition of the item(s) meets with their satisfaction prior to bidding. Any condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, and is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. EDEN Galleries shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging.