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Bülowska Galleriet, Sweden
Catalogue Note:
Walasse Ting was from Wuxi, Jiangsu, and grew up in Shanghai; and once lived in Hong Kong, Paris, New York and Amsterdam. Of all the places, Ting forged the closest relationship with New York, where he spent about a decade. He befriended various modern abstract painters and pop artists and became an active member of the American art circle. New York’s bright neon lights enriched the colors of his paintings while the liberal social backdrop inspired his imagination. Women, flowers, birds, animals and many elements in his daily life all melded into his work.
The artist is one of the most internationally eminent overseas Chinese artist. About a decade ago, someone from the art world once said, “Very few Chinese artists have influence internationally in painting. In Paris, there is Zao Wou-ki, in Cuba, Wifredo Lam and in New York, Walasse Ting. Their works have been collected by big museums around the world and adored by private collectors.”(From Huang Yu-ling, “When a Sentimental Person Meets Another” Taiwan School, Taipei, Sept. 1993, p. 15) Top-notch modern museums and art institutes such as: Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art also in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute, Detroit Institute of Art, Museum of Fine Art in Boston, Tate Gallery in London, Musee Cernuschi of Paris, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Shanghai Museum of Art and Hong Kong Museum of Art all collect works by Walasse Ting.
In 1977, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation offered a grant to Ting to publish an art book, Red Mouth, which collected a series of erotic sketches and paintings. The artist admitted to be a great admirer of women and went by the self-styled nickname “Butterfly Gangster.”He also wrote romantic poetry, depicting sensuous and exquisite women in love. When Ting finished “Waiting for your Love Letter”in 1979, a rare work on canvass, he continued the fluent abstractionism present in his earlier works, and at the same time, began the “titillating”works on paper of his latter years. After 1970s, Ting’s unique style gradually appeared, with outlining strokes from Chinese calligraphy and vibrant acrylic colors filling into solids, which may be more familiar to viewers in his later works.
The image of “Waiting For Your Love Letter” can be seen as one of the representative oil paintings from the 1970s. Author Huang Yu-ling once wrote a critique regarding this beautiful painting, “The girl bearing a flower basket symbolizes love; the blossoming flowers and vivid spots extend the abstract expressionism of his early works. The fluid yet simple lines accurately captures a woman’s elegance. An artist who loves women and self-named‘Butterfly Gangster’ excelled in depicting the charisma of women in love. This is a representative work from the 1970s. Its posters were once partially distributed by Nan Gallery.” (Quote from Love, Oil Painting Exhibition: Passion Art in Paintings Exhibition, Nan Gallery, Taipei, 1992, p.17)
Bülowska Galleriet, Sweden
Catalogue Note:
Walasse Ting was from Wuxi, Jiangsu, and grew up in Shanghai; and once lived in Hong Kong, Paris, New York and Amsterdam. Of all the places, Ting forged the closest relationship with New York, where he spent about a decade. He befriended various modern abstract painters and pop artists and became an active member of the American art circle. New York’s bright neon lights enriched the colors of his paintings while the liberal social backdrop inspired his imagination. Women, flowers, birds, animals and many elements in his daily life all melded into his work.
The artist is one of the most internationally eminent overseas Chinese artist. About a decade ago, someone from the art world once said, “Very few Chinese artists have influence internationally in painting. In Paris, there is Zao Wou-ki, in Cuba, Wifredo Lam and in New York, Walasse Ting. Their works have been collected by big museums around the world and adored by private collectors.”(From Huang Yu-ling, “When a Sentimental Person Meets Another” Taiwan School, Taipei, Sept. 1993, p. 15) Top-notch modern museums and art institutes such as: Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art also in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute, Detroit Institute of Art, Museum of Fine Art in Boston, Tate Gallery in London, Musee Cernuschi of Paris, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Shanghai Museum of Art and Hong Kong Museum of Art all collect works by Walasse Ting.
In 1977, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation offered a grant to Ting to publish an art book, Red Mouth, which collected a series of erotic sketches and paintings. The artist admitted to be a great admirer of women and went by the self-styled nickname “Butterfly Gangster.”He also wrote romantic poetry, depicting sensuous and exquisite women in love. When Ting finished “Waiting for your Love Letter”in 1979, a rare work on canvass, he continued the fluent abstractionism present in his earlier works, and at the same time, began the “titillating”works on paper of his latter years. After 1970s, Ting’s unique style gradually appeared, with outlining strokes from Chinese calligraphy and vibrant acrylic colors filling into solids, which may be more familiar to viewers in his later works.
The image of “Waiting For Your Love Letter” can be seen as one of the representative oil paintings from the 1970s. Author Huang Yu-ling once wrote a critique regarding this beautiful painting, “The girl bearing a flower basket symbolizes love; the blossoming flowers and vivid spots extend the abstract expressionism of his early works. The fluid yet simple lines accurately captures a woman’s elegance. An artist who loves women and self-named‘Butterfly Gangster’ excelled in depicting the charisma of women in love. This is a representative work from the 1970s. Its posters were once partially distributed by Nan Gallery.” (Quote from Love, Oil Painting Exhibition: Passion Art in Paintings Exhibition, Nan Gallery, Taipei, 1992, p.17)