F an Yang-Tsung's Swimming Pool Series - Public Pool stems from his Swimming Pool series, which debuted in 2013 and was critically acclaimed. Created the following year, the present work is the artist's second-largest piece offered at auction to date. The painting overlooks a large public swimming pool, where the shimmering water is kaleidoscopically studded by swimmers in brightly coloured swimwear. The supple figures and the lush line of trees along the poolside starkly contrast with the pool's sharp edges, delineated with washi tape. This work is a refined culmination of Fan Yang-Tsung's repeated thematic exploration of the swimming pool. "Some techniques take t.mes to achieve dexterity, and I want to present the images I want in a more refined way." The artist explained in an interview: "[...] The swimming pool is the most arousing to my desires." (Mai Xinyu, "Fan Yang-Tsung: The Unbridled Passion in the Restrained Proximity of the Swimming Pool", GQ, October 2022 issue) It has been more than a decade since the successful debut of the Swimming Pool series, yet Fan Yang-Tsung continues to revisit the theme, underscoring how much he values the creative sparks the swimming pool inspires.

David Hockney, 'A Bigger Splash', 1967. David Hockney collects ion Tate, London

Fan Yang-Tsung, a swimming enthusiast, was influenced by David Hockney's obsession with swimming pools. Hockney, hailed as the most celebrated "pool painter," travelled from post-war Britain to Los Angeles in 1964. Flying over San Bernardino, he was deeply impressed by the countless houses and villas with private pools, which inspired his series of masterpieces on the theme of swimming pools. At that t.mes , Hockney's pool paintings encapsulate more than just Californian opulence; they were experiments on representing the immaterial, such as the transparency and light of water. However, underlying the technical explorations are the nuances of hidden desires and liberation, as the premise of the swimming pool provides a space where the human body is exposed to be seen and to see.

Fan Yang-Tsung highlights the unique nature of the pool environment. He frankly admitted that he spends more t.mes observing swimmers than actually swimming in the pool. Fan's interest in depicting contemporary interpersonal relationships underscores his artistic practises, and has been evident in his early series such as Inside the Car and Nightclub. His early pool paintings feature his unique painterly perspectives, such as utilising the reflections in swimmers' goggles to trace people's desire to see and be seen in the pool, or magnifying the sweat on swimmers' skin under the sweltering summer heat.

As a later work in the series, the present painting shifted to a panoramic view, minimising the figures to create a unique perspective as if looking through a microscope. Each swimmer is rendered by Fan with utmost detail, from their hairstyles, swimwear, and movements to the tan lines from the scorching sun. This microscopic and delicate portrayal draws the viewer in to savour every detail, granting them visual dominance, while also highlighting the swimmers being scrutinised without realising. To Fan Yang-Tsung and David Hockney, the poolside is a public space that facilitates the projection of individuals' desire as solitary beings seeking a sense of belonging within a community setting. "The pool paintings are very much about desire," Andrew Wilson, co-curator of Tate Britain's retrospective on David Hockney, explains. "And Hockney has a strong awareness of art history, certainly back to Cezanne; back, even, to Botticelli's Birth of Venus. So, queering that kind of subject matter is what these paintings are about." (Alastair Sooke, The bewitching allure of Hockney's swimming pools，13 February 2017）

In fact, the exploration of human behaviour and psychology through depictions of bathers and water sports became a common theme in 19th-century European art. By mid-century, the Seine River had become a central hub for Parisian leisure, with boating and swimming surging in popularity amid an urban renewal programme under Baron Haussmann. Floating swimming baths, such as the Deligny pool, became extremely popular, and the lively riverbank scenery inspired numerous masterpieces by leading figures of the Impressionist and modern movements, including Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Georges Seurat, and Henri Matisse, contributing to some of the earliest depictions of the modern swimsuit.

In an era when fashion prioritised strict modesty over practicality, these swimmers stood in stark contrast to the heavily dressed passersby. While the painters observed the swimmers, the latter also observed those around them. This subtle, interchangeable dynamic between the 'self' and 'others' resonates with the simultaneously subjective and objective perspective presented in Fan Yang-Tsung's pool paintings, reinforcing that the space of a swimming pool retains its ambiguous nature as both a private and a public space even after two centuries. It is undeniable that the modern-day swimming pool has become a popular public facility, swimsuit designs have evolved beyond conservative constraints, and tan lines have become signifiers of health and attractiveness. Under Fan Yang-Tsung's bird's-eye view and vivid palette, the Swimming Pool Series - Public Pool is a kaleidoscope through which the gaze into intimacy and unspoken desires is welcomed.

范揚宗的《泳池系列— 公共泳池》源自其2013年首度發表且馬上大獲好評的《泳池》系列畫作。創作於系列開展的翌年，此作品也是迄今藝術家上拍第二大尺幅作品。畫作俯瞰一個碩大的公共泳池，波光粼粼的池水在泳客高彩的泳裝點綴下更顯鮮明悅目。人物柔軟的身姿和池畔茂密的樹蔭與用紙膠帶方式描繪的銳利泳池邊緣形成強烈對比，是范揚宗反覆雕琢泳池場域題材的精煉結晶。「有些技術需要時間去累積，我想以更純熟的方式去呈現我想要的畫面。」藝術家受訪時解釋：「[...]泳池最能撩動我的慾望。」（麥心瑜撰，〈范揚宗：在泳池方寸裡的情欲奔放〉，《GQ》，2022年10月刊）從《泳池》系列首次發布至今已逾十載，范揚宗仍在繪畫泳池題材作品，可見其對泳池所帶來的創作靈感何其愛不釋手。

本身就喜愛游泳的范揚宗直言，《泳池》系列受大衛·霍克尼同樣題材的作品啟發。被譽為最著名的「泳池畫家」霍克尼，在1964年從戰後蕭條的英國前赴洛杉磯。飛越聖貝納迪諾上空時，他看見多不勝數的住宅都設置私人泳池，印象十分深刻，故此激發了他以泳池為主題的一系列名作。在當年，霍克尼的泳池作品除了展示加州的奢華，很大程度上也是探討如何補足如水般透明流動的非物質。然而，在技法上的實驗性實踐底下，更是一層曖昧慾望的底蘊，皆因泳池這個領域，提供了一個能堂而皇之觀察及描繪人體的場所。

范 揚宗指出泳池場域的特殊性。他坦然，在泳池，他花在觀察泳客的時間比游泳更多。他對探索當代人際關係及「我，與他者」的創作核心，早見於其《車內》、《夜店》等職業生涯初期的系列作品。而早期的《泳池》系列畫作始見他創造的非自然切入視角，譬如透過泳客的泳鏡倒影，來追踪人們在泳池環境中凝視或被凝視的慾望，或者炎夏下汗津津的泳客皮膚被放大呈現。

而以《泳池系列— 公共泳池》為例的後期作品，范揚宗進一步把畫面切換成「全景式」構圖，將人物比例極小化，形成透過顯微鏡俯瞰觀察的獨特視角。藝術家仔細描繪每個人物的特徵，豐富如髮型、泳裝、泳姿，甚至是烈日下的曬痕。 這種微觀的細膩刻畫，吸引觀者一一細味。如此一覽無遺的閱讀方式，不但賦予觀者壓倒性的主導權，更突顯了那些在休閒消磨間被審視而不自知的泳者。對范揚宗及大衛·霍克尼而言，泳池畔便是人作為孤獨個體在公共空間裡尋找群體聯繫的慾望投射場所。霍克尼在英國泰特美術館的回顧展共同策展人安德魯·威爾森（Andrew Wilson）說曾道：「（霍克尼的）泳池主題的畫作很大程度上是關於慾望的。霍克尼對藝術史有著深刻的理解，尤其可以追溯到塞尚，甚至波提切利的《維納斯的誕生》。所以，這些畫作的意義就在於對這類主題進行顛覆性的詮釋。」（Alastair Sooke 撰，〈The bewitching allure of Hockney’s swimming pools〉，2017年2月13日）

其實，透過水上活動的描繪觀察人的行為與心理，早於19世紀歐洲印象派運動中成為熱門題材。以19 世紀中葉巴黎為例，奧斯曼男爵對塞納河兩岸進行了開發，建造了新的碼頭和橋樑，從而衍生了許多供公眾娛樂的休閒場所，當中以公共澡堂與游泳場地的興起最為顯著。河岸的泳客、浮池、划艇成為了一眾藝術家筆下的熱鬧風景。克勞德·莫內（Claude Monet）、保羅·塞尚（Paul Cezanne）、皮耶·奧古斯特·雷諾瓦（Pierre Auguste Renoir）、喬治·秀拉（Georges Seurat）及亨利·馬蒂斯（Henri Matisse）等巨匠，均有以戲水為主題膾炙人口的作品，而他們的畫作中，亦出現了首批泳裝客。

在那個衣著極為保守的年代，這些泳者與穿著嚴密的途人形成強烈對比，而前者在被捕捉場景的畫家觀察的同時，也同時與其他泳客或路人互相觀察着。這種「你我既同亦不同」的微妙關係，與范揚宗畫作所呈現的觀察視角有異曲同工之妙，可見泳池或浴場這個空間，即便物換星移兩個世紀，既私密又公開的懸而未決性質依舊不變。與時並進的是，泳池的普及化，泳衣更開放的設計，曬痕作為健康與魅力的象徵。而在范揚宗的鳥瞰視角與明亮用色下，《泳池系列— 公共泳池》成為了明媚炙熱的陽光之下色彩斑斕的萬花筒，它的熱鬧默認了你的窺探，而你的駐足凝視，便是對那惹人稱羨盛夏清涼靜恬的隱晦慾望。