Author: LUO ZHONGLI 罗中立

Size: 93×118cm

Signed and dated: Painted in 1995

Estimate:

Final Price: RMB 1,500,000

LITERATURE
2007 Chinese Contemporary Painter Luo Zhongli / P206-207 & P258 / Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House
signed in Chinese and Pinyin, dated 1995
In the 1990s, Luo Zhongli gradually developed a violent primitive expressionist style in painting creation, presented the true state of pastoral life through exaggerated characters and a freehand atmosphere. The art inspiration drawn from folk life are recorded without reservation by the artist, showing a kind of “naked portrayal of the real life” (by Wang Linyu).
The work Combing created in 1995 is a typical masterpiece by Luo Zhongli during this period. The artist created the scene of a rural woman grooming herself using simple brushstrokes, demonstrating the simplicity and vibrancy unique to farmers. The wooden cabin with stairs, the fire, and the female farmer with a strong physique - these are classic elements in Luo Zhongli’s works. The artist refreshingly arranged a violent light source in the cramped, dim space, which is reminiscent of Van Gogh’s masterpiece The Potato Eaters. The impoverished peasant in The Potato Eaters is skinny, gaunt, and exhausted, and the cold light is oppressive, which shows the hard life. In this work, a female peasant with big breast and wide hip and a sturdy build is grooming herself in the space with warm red light, where a few smoked fish hangs from the roof, and a pair of cute black dogs are staring at the soup pot on the fire. In this scene, the woman seems to be the Chinese version of “Venus of Willendorf”, a personification of the simple and dynamic vitality on the Chinese soil. The flowing brushstrokes and heavy texture are the real expression of sincere feelings.
In terms of painting language, Luo Zhongli changes the stereotyped image of peasants in this painting through exaggerated and deformed shapes, extols motherhood and vibrant vitality. The painter pronounces in a silent language that this is a farmer’s family with bumper harvest through hard work – labor leads to harvest. It is the simplest yet most valuable values in China through the ages.