PRINTCatalogue Note:
The bold use of color, splashed on seemingly almost at will, which one sees in the paintings of Walasse Ting reflects not only the influence on Ting’s art of Matisse and the other Fauves, but also the influence of abstract expressionism on his work after he settled in the U.S.A. in the 1950s; it is from this time onwards that the composition of Ting’s paintings displays an enhanced freedom and a sense that the artist is letting his inspiration take him where it will. While Walasse Ting’s paintings may seem designed to appeal to a broad audience, with a pronouncedly modern, urban style, they still retain traces of the influence of traditional Chinese painting. Ting used techniques strongly reminiscent of Chinese calligraphy to create the outlines in his works, with the spaces thus outlined then being filled in with brightly-colored acrylics. The effect naturally created the unrestrained beauty and the pleasant atmosphere, which are the signature elements of Ting’s unique style.
Walasse Ting delighted in portraying the aspects of the women in his life that made them attractive to him. They may be depicted gazing alluringly with a fan obscuring the lower half of their face, or standing coyly enveloped in flowers. The way Ting portrays women is always interesting; these depictions tend to be subtly imbued with Ting’s own emotions and feelings. This particular work, “Love like Running Water,” features two of Ting’s main sources of inspiration: women and flowers. During this period, when he was approaching his sixties, Walasse Ting produced a large amount of work. In his paintings from this period, Ting is no longer bound by the constraints of any particular style or school; he freely expresses his own feelings and his passion for women. The exquisite use of color and the gorgeous visual effects created thereby demonstrate the high level of maturity that Ting had attained in his art by this time. One might say of Walasse Ting that the philosophical underpinning of his work was that idea that “when the flowers bloom, pick them while you can, before there are none left to pick.” Ting adopted a similar approach to artistic creation as he did to women; a self-acknowledged ladies’ man all his life, his attitude to life was fully reflected in his art.
Walasse Ting delighted in portraying the aspects of the women in his life that made them attractive to him. They may be depicted gazing alluringly with a fan obscuring the lower half of their face, or standing coyly enveloped in flowers. The way Ting portrays women is always interesting; these depictions tend to be subtly imbued with Ting’s own emotions and feelings. This particular work, “Love like Running Water,” features two of Ting’s main sources of inspiration: women and flowers. During this period, when he was approaching his sixties, Walasse Ting produced a large amount of work. In his paintings from this period, Ting is no longer bound by the constraints of any particular style or school; he freely expresses his own feelings and his passion for women. The exquisite use of color and the gorgeous visual effects created thereby demonstrate the high level of maturity that Ting had attained in his art by this time. One might say of Walasse Ting that the philosophical underpinning of his work was that idea that “when the flowers bloom, pick them while you can, before there are none left to pick.” Ting adopted a similar approach to artistic creation as he did to women; a self-acknowledged ladies’ man all his life, his attitude to life was fully reflected in his art.