Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 16

Walasse Ting
Chinese Moonlight (signed, dated and inscribed by Walasse Ting) with four lithos

1967

About the Item

Walasse Ting 丁雄泉 Chinese Moonlight (signed, dated and inscribed by Walasse Ting), 1967 Illustrated Softback monograph with four original double-page lithographs (hand signed, dated and inscribed) Signed and inscribed by Walasse Ting on the half title page 10 1/2 × 7 1/2 × 1/2 inches Inscription reads: to Frances Klenett with very best wishes from Walasse Ting new york city 15 December 1972 (Frances Klenett was a composer, teacher and rare-book dealer. She was married to Eric Salzman, Avant Garde composer and music critic) Book information: CHINESE MOONLIGHT: 63 poems by 33 poets Publisher: ‎ Wittenborn and Co; (January 1, 1967) ‎English; softback with 71 pp of Chinese poetry (63 works) by 33 poets, selected, translated and illustrated by 4 double-page lithographs by Ting. About Walasse Ting: Born in Wuxi, China, then raised in Shanghai, where, by his own account he first began painting on the sidewalks. Without a visa and only five American dollars in his pocket he moved to Paris in 1952. Life was difficult but he found a small room in Passage Riguinot. Having met Pierre Alechinsky, who he taught oriental calligraphy to, he was introduced and formed close friendships with members of the CoBrA Group, the avant-gard movement. Eight years later Ting emigrated to New York, where he became involved with the Pop artists and influenced by American Abstract Expressionism. The conflict of conservative Eastern values and the modern Western culture is apparent in Ting’s work, he states “in this respect, artists are to a certain extent schizophrenics. Some try to resolve the contradiction by conscious means, by using traditional techniques and elements of traditional Chinese art in an attempt to modernize Chinese painting”. Julian Alvard noted in 1954 “the influence of Chinese paintings on Western paintings, particularly American, is well known. What we are faced with now is the problem reversed, and how impenetrable it becomes: it is how can one be a Chinese painter after the shock of Western painting? The painting of Walasse Ting is one of the aspects of the new battle that’s beginning to be fought”. This battle has continued with young Chinese painters today now picking up the influences of earlier rare Chinese successes such as Walasse Ting. Walasse continued to travel and in 1987 stopped in Amsterdam, which reminded him of Hangzhou with all the canals. He loved the city so much he decided to stay permanently While Ting was in Paris in the 1950s, he became deeply involved in the CoBrA movement, and when he moved to New York in the 60s, he was closely tied to the New York School. In 1964, Ting published a collection of poetry titled One Cent Life, in which he included prints from 68 celebrities of the contemporary art world, including Sam Francis, Antonio Saura, Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel, Asger Jorn, and Andy Warhol, a testament to his highly impressive artistic network. The works by this vivacious postwar artist have since been collected by over forty international art museums and foundations, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the New York Metropolitan Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, London’s Tate Gallery, the Guimet Museum of Asian Art in Paris, and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Ting believed himself not to belong to any art school. While Chinese artists were striving, one after another, to push Eastern elements into the lexicon of postwar painting, Ting was comparatively motivated by his individual passions and loves, allowing the influences of his culture and ethnicity to trickle through naturally. For this reason, viewing Ting’s work is an experience of lightness and ease. It is as though one is witnessing the work of a youthful artist, full of vigour and surging creativity, casually fiddling with the paintbrush and allowing his joy and inspiration to spill out directly from the heart. A Lots of Sunshine Here and Winds Sing Song were created in the early 1970s, just as the artist was beginning to enter the period in which flowers and women became his dominant subjects. Influenced by the abstract expressionism of the New York School, the artist had already reached a realm of complete creative immersion. The splashes of vibrant red spill across the canvas like the bold rays of the sun, while the verdant green, bright yellow, and tender peach neon acrylic colours spray across the canvas in dynamic motion, as though fluttering in the wind. The artist bestows the paint with incomparable freedom of motion, re-enacting upon the canvas the passion and action of nature. The action painting that became iconic of American abstractionist Jackson Pollock is similarly imbued within Ting’s large-scale abstract paintings. Yet Ting often did not insist upon filling up the entire canvas; rather, he intentionally allowed his carefully laid foundation to remain visible, creating contrast and dynamism between the still and uniform colour of the foundation and the gorgeous releases of dynamic colour layered upon it. This is an evolved manifestation of the “leaving blank” technique practiced in traditional Chinese painting, which not only highlights the spirit of Zen, but also constructs a beauty that comes from the union of the dichotomy between realand- unreal. Ting spent his life in the West, ceaselessly exploring, like a never-ending party, and yet the spring breeze and glorious sunrays rolling into the party naturally originated from the East. Thus, viewers from all corners of the world can experience the artist’s joy intimately, in a way not limited by national boundaries. -Courtesy of Sotheby's Provenance Estate of Frances Klenett, composer, teacher and rare-book dealer. She was married to Eric Salzman, Avant Garde composer and music critic
  • Creator:
    Walasse Ting (1929, American, Chinese)
  • Creation Year:
    1967
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)Width: 7.5 in (19.05 cm)Depth: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very good vintage condition, with some shelfwear and wear on the edges (see images).
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1745214692792

More From This Seller

View All
Lt Ed Tony Shafrazi exhibition catalogue (hand signed, dated by Donald Baechler)
By Donald Baechler
Located in New York, NY
Donald Baechler Limited edition Tony Shafrazi exhibition catalogue (hand signed and dated by Donald Baechler), 1983 Softback monograph (hand signed and dated by Donald Baechler) Bold...
Category

1980s Pop Art More Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset

Monograph: Robert Indiana Early Sculpture 1960-1962 (Hand signed and inscribed)
By Robert Indiana
Located in New York, NY
Robert Indiana Deluxe Limited Edition with Slipcase: Robert Indiana Early Sculpture 1960-1962 (Hand signed and inscribed with heart drawing by Robert Indiana ), 1991 Hardback monogra...
Category

1990s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset, Board

Claes Oldenburg, Claes Oldenburg (Hand signed by Claes Oldenburg), 1992
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
Claes Oldenburg (Hand signed by Claes Oldenburg), 1992 Softback catalogue with stiff wraps (hand signed by Claes Oldenburg hand signed by Claes Oldenburg on the half title page 11 3/...
Category

1990s Pop Art More Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset

Dancers on a Plane, Limited Edition monograph, signed by all 3 artists No 40/200
Located in New York, NY
Jasper Johns, Merce Cunningham, John Cage Dancers on a Plane, 1989 Clothbound Artist's Book with slipcase, Signed in ink by John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and Jasper Johns on the half-...
Category

1980s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Fabric, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset, Paper

Monograph: Robert Indiana and the Star of Hope (SIGNED by artist and 2 writers)
By Robert Indiana
Located in New York, NY
Makes a fantastic gift! Robert Indiana Monograph: Robert Indiana and the Star of Hope (hand signed by the artist as well as both writers), 2009 Hardback monograph with dust jacket (h...
Category

Early 2000s Pop Art More Art

Materials

Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset, Board

Hockney's Alphabet, portfolio of 26 lithographs signed by Hockney and 23 writers
By David Hockney
Located in New York, NY
David Hockney Hockney's Alphabet, 1991 26 color lithographs in Fine Art Cartridge paper bound in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, housed in matching box; signed by David Hockney and most contributors in ink and numbered 178 in black ink on the justification page Numbered 178/250 Hand signed by 24 of the contributors, including David Hockney and Steven Spender 12 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches Bound in book and held in slipcase This portfolio features 26 color lithographs in Fine Art Cartridge paper with full margins, bound as issued, in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, in original grey slipcase. It is signed by David Hockney (the artist) and most contributors in ink and numbered 178 in black ink on the justification page, from the edition of 250, with full text and title page, published by Faber & Faber, London, text edits by Stephen Spender, who also signed. It is illustrated by David Hockney, hand signed by David Hockney and Stephen Spender and also signed by the following contributors: Douglas Adams, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Margaret Drabble, Patrick Leigh Fermor, William Golding, Seamus Heaney...
Category

1990s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Ink, Mixed Media, Vellum, Lithograph, Board, Pencil, Offset

You May Also Like

David Wojnarowicz First Solo Show 1982 (announcement)
By David Wojnarowicz
Located in NEW YORK, NY
David Wojnarowicz First Solo Show 1982: This museum worthy, seldom seen exhibition announcement, was published on the occasion of David Wojnarowicz's first solo exhibition. The exhib...
Category

1980s Pop Art More Art

Materials

Offset

Abstract Minimalist Color Silkscreen Print Richard Smith On The Bowery Pop Art
By Richard Smith
Located in Surfside, FL
Richard Smith On the Bowery, 1969 - 1971 silkscreen on Schoeller's Parole Paper, edition of 100 + 20 A.P. 25.5 x 25.5 inches, signed, numbered 21/100 Screenprint in color on wove paper Hand signed, published by Edition Domberger, Bonlanden, West Germany (with their blindstamp) Provenance: Collection of Tom Levine On the Bowery, 1971. The portfolio consists of nine screenprints in colors (one with mylar collage), on wove paper, by representative artists of the Pop Art period. Cy Twombly, Robert Ryman, Will Insley, Robert Indiana, Les Levine, John Willenbecher...
Category

1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

Abstract Minimalist Color Silkscreen Print Will Insley On The Bowery Pop Art
Located in Surfside, FL
Will Insley On the Bowery, 1969 - 1971 silkscreen on Schoeller's Parole Paper, edition of 100 + 20 A.P. 25.5 x 25.5 inches, signed, numbered 21/100 Screenprint in color on wove paper Hand signed, published by Edition Domberger, Bonlanden, West Germany (with their blindstamp) Provenance: Collection of Tom Levine On the Bowery, 1971. The portfolio consists of nine screenprints in colors (one with mylar collage), on wove paper, by representative artists of the Pop Art period. Cy Twombly, Robert Ryman, Will Insley, Robert Indiana, Les Levine, John Willenbecher...
Category

1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

1969-71 Abstract Minimalist Color Silkscreen Print Charles Hinman On The Bowery
By Charles Hinman
Located in Surfside, FL
Charles Hinman On the Bowery, 1969 - 1971 silkscreen on Schoeller's Parole Paper, edition of 100 + 20 A.P. 25.5 x 25.5 inches, signed, numbered 21/100 Screenprint in color on wove paper Hand signed, published by Edition Domberger, Bonlanden, West Germany (with their blindstamp) Provenance: Collection of Tom Levine On the Bowery, 1971. The portfolio consists of nine screenprints in colors (one with mylar collage), on wove paper, by representative artists of the Pop Art period. Cy Twombly, Robert Ryman, Will Insley, Robert Indiana, Les Levine, John Willenbecher...
Category

1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

Color Silkscreen Pop Art Lithograph Print Les Levine Canadian Pop Art Portrait
By Les Levine
Located in Surfside, FL
Les Levine On the Bowery, 1969 - 1971 Screenprint in color 25.5 x 25.5 inches, signed, numbered 21/100 Hand signed, published by Edition Domberger, Bonlanden, West Germany (with their blindstamp) Provenance: Collection of Tom Levine On the Bowery, 1971. The portfolio consists of nine screenprints in colors (one with mylar collage), on wove paper, by representative artists of the Pop Art period. Cy Twombly, Robert Ryman, Will Insley, Robert Indiana, Les Levine, John Willenbecher...
Category

1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

Abstract Minimalist Color Silkscreen Print John Willenbecher The Bowery Pop Art
Located in Surfside, FL
John Willenbecher On the Bowery, 1969 - 1971 silkscreen on Schoeller's Parole Paper, edition of 100 + 20 A.P. 25.5 x 25.5 inches, signed, numbered 2...
Category

1960s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Screen

Recently Viewed

View All