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Li Huayi, “Gorge in clouds” (detail shown), ink on paper.

FOR 10/12

LI HUAYI’S MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPES AT ESKENAZI LTD IN LONDON NOV. 1 w/1 cut

avv/gs set 10/8 #714883

LONDON — Eskenazi, a leading dealer in Oriental art, will present “Mountain landscapes by Li Huayi,” opening Thursday, November 1. The exhibition will remain on view through November 30.

Li Huayi’s work can be found in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago and the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas.

He has exhibited to critical acclaim in California and New York as well as in Hong Kong and his native Shanghai but this exhibition at Eskenazi will be his first to be held in Europe. It will be an important feature of the tenth anniversary celebrations of Asian Art in London (November 1–10), which draws collectors and scholars from around the world to the many exhibitions and other events held by dealers, auction houses, museums and important institutions in London.

This will be only the second time that Eskenazi has exhibited the work of a contemporary artist, the first being Arnold Chang in 2006, which was a sell-out. Giuseppe Eskenazi says: “We are very proud to be the first in Europe to exhibit the work of Li Huayi, who is one of the very best contemporary Chinese painters of landscape.” The Huayi exhibition will comprise 20 new paintings, including one of the largest works he has executed, a monumental landscape measuring 8 by 4 feet.

Huayi was born to a wealthy family in Shanghai in 1948 and began to study in the “big brush” Shanghai School style of landscape and flower paintings at the age of 6. At 16 he studied Western painting and drawing with Zhang Chongren, who had been educated at the Royal Academy in Belgium, and Li became accomplished in these styles. Through his talent he survived the Cultural Revolution of 1966–76 by becoming a “worker artist,” producing large propaganda paintings in the approved socialist realist style.

His work not only bridges the arts of China and that of the West but also shows how the relationships between the past and present are profound and complex.

As the landscapes being exhibited by Eskenazi will demonstrate, Huayi has chosen as his main source of inspiration the monumental landscapes of the Northern Song dynasty (960–1126), considered the pinnacle of Chinese landscape painting. The first time he saw an important Northern Song painting was in 1978 at an exhibition in Beijing.

“Seeing that painting was a turning,” he said. “After that I started to work in the style of the Northern Song landscape … But I started practicing this style very late because I had not seen any great examples.”

He strives for the majesty and drama of the Northern Song works, creating imaginative landscapes that exist only in his mind, using innovative formats and techniques that have developed into his own style.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog with an introduction by Dr Michael Knight, curator of Chinese Art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, which staged a major exhibition of Li’s work in 2004.

Eskenazi Limited is at 10 Clifford Street. For information, +44 (0)20 7493 5464 or www.eskenazi.co.uk.