PRINTCatalogue Note:
The present lot is a wonderful example of Walasse Ting’s fascination for women and flowers, which he usually depicts in fresh, vivid colors. His unique, personal style can be recognised in an instant and expresses his abundant energy and joie de vivre. Starting as an abstract painter, Ting focused on the human figure from the seventies onwards. By that time he had lived in New York for more than a decade, where he became friends with Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselman and Roy Lichtenstein, founding fathers of American Pop Art. Like them, Ting created iconic subjects to which he stayed true throughout his entire life. The female figure is one of them, flowers another. To Walasse Ting, flowers and women were inseparable.
He once stated that "Whenever I see an attractive woman or a beautiful flower, it always inspires an elusive feeling of sensitivity. Seeing them fills me with energy and vitality, gives me feelings that I usually do not experience, and makes me feel as though I have been reborn. I use a large number of different color tones to let this feeling of energy and love explode on the canvas." Ting sought the same sense of purity and freshness which he admired in the work of Henri Matisse, an artist that influenced him during his years in Paris.
Walasse Ting spent his whole life exploring the alluring beauty of women, captured in abundantly rich and bright images that encapture the viewer. He excelled in depicting the soft and attractive side of women, adding flowers, cats and birds to his pictures to emphasize their sensuality. It is clear that Walasse Ting’s paintings try to communicate delightful and comfortable feelings. This brings to mind the much quoted statement of Matisse, which is equally applicable to the art of Ting: "What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.”
The present lot, painted in 1987, is the product of a fruitful cooperation between Walasse Ting and the famous Dutch CoBrA painter Corneille. In the early 1950s, when he lived in Paris, Walasse Ting met the members of CoBrA and became friends with Karel Appel, Pierre Alechinsky, Asger Jorn and Corneille.
Their quest for a vital renewal of painting in the 1950s appealed to Ting. From 1960 onwards, when he had emigrated to the United States, Ting stayed friends with the CoBrA members.
Most likely the present lot was painted in the Amsterdam studio of Corneille in April 1987. The largest part of the painting was done by Walasse Ting, such as the nude female figure and the flowers, while Corneille only added the birds and cat in the background of the picture. It was given the title The Venus of Amsterdam. The number II on the back suggest that there are two versions of the subject, but no other example of this Venus of Amsterdam is known. Most likely Ting and Corneille executed only one version.
He once stated that "Whenever I see an attractive woman or a beautiful flower, it always inspires an elusive feeling of sensitivity. Seeing them fills me with energy and vitality, gives me feelings that I usually do not experience, and makes me feel as though I have been reborn. I use a large number of different color tones to let this feeling of energy and love explode on the canvas." Ting sought the same sense of purity and freshness which he admired in the work of Henri Matisse, an artist that influenced him during his years in Paris.
Walasse Ting spent his whole life exploring the alluring beauty of women, captured in abundantly rich and bright images that encapture the viewer. He excelled in depicting the soft and attractive side of women, adding flowers, cats and birds to his pictures to emphasize their sensuality. It is clear that Walasse Ting’s paintings try to communicate delightful and comfortable feelings. This brings to mind the much quoted statement of Matisse, which is equally applicable to the art of Ting: "What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.”
The present lot, painted in 1987, is the product of a fruitful cooperation between Walasse Ting and the famous Dutch CoBrA painter Corneille. In the early 1950s, when he lived in Paris, Walasse Ting met the members of CoBrA and became friends with Karel Appel, Pierre Alechinsky, Asger Jorn and Corneille.
Their quest for a vital renewal of painting in the 1950s appealed to Ting. From 1960 onwards, when he had emigrated to the United States, Ting stayed friends with the CoBrA members.
Most likely the present lot was painted in the Amsterdam studio of Corneille in April 1987. The largest part of the painting was done by Walasse Ting, such as the nude female figure and the flowers, while Corneille only added the birds and cat in the background of the picture. It was given the title The Venus of Amsterdam. The number II on the back suggest that there are two versions of the subject, but no other example of this Venus of Amsterdam is known. Most likely Ting and Corneille executed only one version.