Li Yuan-Chia - 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale in association with Yongle Hong Kong Tuesday, November 29, 2022 | Phillips

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  • Li Yuan-chia was among the founders of Il Punto (The Point) an international art movement inspired by the spirit of Tang and Song Buddhism, with the scope of rescuing post-war art from the haphazardness and confusion provoked by the overabundance of movements. Thanks to the trust and support of the internationally renowned designer Dino Gavina (1922-2007), Li Yuan-chia spent four creatively productive years in Bologna, Italy. His studio was located within the Gavina’s factory, an exclusive and exceptional environment which became the birthplace of some of the Chinese painter’s most outstanding pieces.

     

    Untitled – executed during that fruitful period comprised within 1962 and 1965 – is the epitome of Il Punto’s aesthetic doctrine: a unique black and white version of Li Yuan-chia’s minimal and abstract canvases, an extremely rare find on the market. Its impressive cultural value is further strengthened by its history and provenance.

     

     

    The artist in front of his work

     

     

    When Massimo Cirulli acquired the Estate Gavina from Gavina’s heirs in 2015, he also collected what was included in the designer’s former factory: design prototypes and artworks by some of the most influential pioneering figures of the time, such as Marcel Breuer, Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp, Lucio Fontana, Carlo Scarpa, Kazuhide Takahama (whose sculpture today welcomes the visitors of the Foundation). Gavina’s charisma and sharp intuition allowed him to attract global talents to the town of Bologna – which became an innovative avantgarde centre for industrial design making – and to contribute to the consolidation of Li Yuan-chia’s and other promising international artists’ fame.

     

    Li Yuan-chia (1929-1994) was an artist, poet and curator born in Guanxi and educated in Taiwan, where he moved as a refugee in 1949. He became a member of different groundbreaking art movements, among which were Il Punto and the Ton Fan group. After spending time in Bologna and Milan, Italy, he moved to England and established the LYC Museum and Art Gallery in the Cumbrian village of Banks. His works are part of the collections of the M+ in Hong Kong, the Tate Modern in London, the MACBA in Barcelona.

     

    • Provenance

      Collection of Dino Gavina, Bologna (acquired directly from the artist)
      Private Collection, Bologna (by descent from the above)
      Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2015

224

Untitled

signed 'Li Yuan CHIA' on the stretcher
oil on canvas
148 x 148 cm. (58 1/4 x 58 1/4 in.)
Painted in 1962–1965.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
HK$300,000 - 500,000 
€36,700-61,100
$38,500-64,100

Sold for HK$378,000

Contact Specialist

Danielle So
Specialist, Head of Day Sale
+852 2318 2027
danielleso@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale in association with Yongle

Hong Kong Auction 30 November 2022