Items for Sale:    The Chinese Porcelain Company

TREE STUDY NO. 4 by Zeng Xiaojun (b. 1954) (2009 China)

Artist

ZENG XIAOJUN. (born 1954)

Country of Origin

China

Dated

2009

Medium

ink on paper

Dimensions

70.75inch wide   38.00inch high
(179.70 cm wide  96.52 cm high)

External/Framed Dimensions

86.50inch framed width   46.00inch framed height
(219.71 cm framed width  116.84 cm framed height)


Exhibition History

"Ink Paintings by Liu Dan, Zeng Xiaojun, and introducing Tai Xiangzhou," March 18-26, 2011 at The Chinese Porcelain Company, Asia Week New York 2011.

Description / Expertise

Zeng Xiaojun has been deeply fascinated by the subject of four magnificent, two-thousand-year-old cypresses that were once struck by lightning yet continue to grow inside the Situ Miao (Prime Minister Temple), located at the foot of the Dengwei Mountain near Suzhou, China. Now known as Qing Qi Gu Guai, these trees were originally planted in the first century by Eastern Han general and later prime minister Deng Yu (2-58 AD), after whom the temple is named.
One of the trees, shown here, has been split in two and fallen stretched out to the left of the painting but continues to tumble and twist beyond the frame of the painting. In a most unusual of natural forms, the trunk curves sharply upward perpendicular to its body near the middle of the painting as the branches stretch and fall in unpredictable lines. The details are illustrated by varying shadings in ink and textured through the masterful use of brushstroke, or are in places merely suggested by intelligent use of negative space. The personality of the tree, and its sentience as a living being, are palpable in this haunting yet vivacious ink painting.