Page 193 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

Cheng Shifa was born in Songjiang, Jiangsu province, and attended
the Shanghai College of Art in 1938. First achieving fame as an
illustrator, he published illustrated versions of the stories originally
penned by the author Lu Xun (1881-1936). By 1956, he was a
professional painter in the guohua style, and soon thereafter he
would find his niche in his colorful and exuberant depictions of
minorities from China’s Southwestern Yunnan province.

Michael Gallis commissioned this album from Cheng Shifa in
2005 just before he entered the hospital and so it is one of the
final albums created by the artist at the end of his prolific career.
Replete with auspicious imagery and with unusually free and
expressive brushwork reflecting the artist’s mood and status, the
album celebrates the lunar New Year and the coming of the spring
season, with several leaves dated in the days that followed. As one
of the artist’s last recorded works, the album both demonstrates the
culmination of his career as a painter while highlighting his still strong
brushwork and daring use of color.

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