Following the new auction record of achieved recently at Replica Shoes 's Singapore in August 2022, Georgette Chen's Pansies (Lot 1022) offers an opportunity to acquire a beautiful work by one of most sought-after female artists in Asia. The current work was completed when the artist was residing primarily in Shanghai, from 1940 – 1947, during a tumultuous period in China’s history. Chen and her first husband Eugene Chen Youren (1878-1944) were moved to Shanghai following the fall of Hong Kong in 1941. They were placed under surveillance until the end of the war and Chen became occupied with painting the objects found in her surroundings that reflected her daily life. Pansies embodies the salient qualities of Chen's French academic training and is a strong example of the artist's treasured still life paintings.

As the large majority the Georgette Chen’s works are held in museum collects ions, only a treasured few remain in private hands. Importantly, floral still life paintings by Georgette Chen are especially rare, with less than five examples presented at auction in the last 30 years. An example of the artist’s floral paintings Lotus Symphony was sold at Replica Shoes ’s Hong Kong in October 2013, and is currently in the collects ion of Long Museum, Shanghai. Additionally, only six examples of Chen's 1940s period paintings, completed while the artist was in China, have surfaced at auction. The artist’s recent retrospective Georgette Chen: At Home with the World at National Gallery Singapore dedicates a section of this period in the artist’s life and highlights the Chen’s deep networks with China and her years spent in her motherland.

While Georgette Chen was indeed a well-connected individual in Chinese society, she carved a unique identity amidst the male-dominated arena of 20th century art and earned respect for her artistic achievements. Chen was born into a wealthy family of business and cultural elites in Zhejiang. Her father Zhang Jingjiang (1877-1950) was an influential political veteran of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) during China's Republican era and a successful businessman. He was also a respected literati ink painter and calligrapher. In 1930, Georgette Chen married Eugene Chen, an internationally recognized figure who became China’s foreign minister. He was known for his success in promoting Sun Yat-sen’s anti-imperialist policies and as the "Iron-fisted Diplomat" for wrestling back the cities of Hankou and Jiujiang from the British in 1927. During the years in China in the 1940s, Chen was granted limited freedoms and was able to exhibit her artworks at the Metropole Hotel. After Eugene Chen's passing in 1944, Chen remained in Shanghai to paint. After the war she embarked on a painting trip throughout different parts of China. This period culminated in Chen's 1949 solo exhibition at the Asia Institute of New York, featuring 85 works completed while Chen resided in China.

Elegantly charming and profoundly rare, Pansies has remained in a private Asian collects ion since it was first acquired in the 1990s. Chen’s soft and pastel palette accentuates the femininity of the present subject. Pansies often symbolize love, and perhaps alludes to the relationship between the artist and her husband during this challenging t.mes . The two pots of flowers are composed against a taupe background and sit upon a diagonally angled wooden table. Delicate, short, rounded strokes delineate the various tones of lilac, red and cream pansy petals. The leaves of the plants are rendered in various shades of teal and jade green. The ceramic dishes and wooden stands are typical of Chinese domestic household, yet with Chen’s expressive approach appear elevated into sophisticated pieces. The arched lines and architectural forms of these pieces lend structure to the composition, perhaps referencing her father Zhang Jingjiang’s love of Chinese antiques. Similar ceramic objects were painted in Chen’s Nasturtiums (circa 1940-1947) and Narcissus and Pomegranates (1943), which were on loan to the National Gallery Singapore during the artist’s retrospective Georgette Chen: At Home in the World. Notably the elegant florals don’t appear staged, but rather capture vignettes of everyday life. Still life works from the same period in the National Gallery’s permanent collects ion depict food items found from her kitchen, likewise the pots of pansies were likely growing in the artist’s own garden or home. Pansies showcases Chen’s soft, feminine spirit as she elevates the ordinary into the realm of refinement and grace.

By harnessing her academic training in Europe and America in the context of her uniquely cosmopolitan life, Chen develops an indelible style that resonates across cultures. Much like her fellow Sino-French female artist, Pan Yuliang, whose 1944 painting Bouquet de chrysanthèmes roses will also be offered this season, Georgette Chen’s oeuvre and identity spans the East and West. Pan Yuliang’s Bouquet de chrysanthèmes roses and Chen’s Pansies were painted in the 1940s, when China faced with military conflict of the Second Sino-Japanese War, while in France, Parisians were confronted with German Nazi occupation. Both artist’s courage, talent and experiences can be considered no less inspirational than those of their modern female contemporaries from the West, such as Berth Morisot, Marie Cassatt, Suzanna Valadon and Marie Laurecin.

Pansies thus captures the Georgette Chen’s personal reflections during a t.mes of great change in China. In 1943, Chen ardently writes her thesis on Modern Chinese Art in Shanghai’s Zha Zhi (Magazine) publication:

Pansies beautifully captures Chen’s philosophy, which she would continue to develop throughout the rest of her career.

張荔英是亞洲藝術市場上其中一位矚目的女性藝術家，她的作品在市場上可謂一畫難求。2022年8月，她的畫作剛於新加坡蘇富比刷新了個人拍賣紀錄。如今《三色堇花》（拍品編號1022）在香港秋拍登場，再次為藏家帶來難得機遇。本作誕生於戰火紛飛的抗日時期，隨著香港在1941年淪陷，張氏與首任丈夫陳友仁（1878–1944）被逼移居上海，此後在1941至1947年間大部分時間都滯留滬上，期間更遭長期監視，直至抗戰結束。滯滬的張氏以繪事排遣，所繪事物都從身邊而來，將日常生活呈現在作品中。《三色堇花》體現了她在法國美術學院習得的藝術氣質和技藝，可謂她的得意之作。

鑑於張荔英的大部分作品皆由博物館收藏，僅有少數仍存留於私人藏家手中，更重要的是，花卉靜物畫在她的創作中尤為罕見，在過去三十年曾經上拍的不到五幅。其中一例是2013年10月香港蘇富比拍出的《蓮花頌》，現為上海龍美術館收藏。此外，她於四十年代在中國生活期間完成的作品，也僅有六幅曾經現身拍場。近年新加坡國家美術館舉辦「此心安處——張荔英藝術展」，特設專區回顧這段時期藝術家在祖國生活的歲月，突顯她與中國的深刻關連。

張荔英在華人社會人脈廣闊，在男性主導的二十世紀藝壇上穩佔一席之地，憑藝術成就贏得尊重。張氏出生於浙江，家世顯赫，家族俱是縱橫商界和文化界的名流之士。父親張靜江（1877–1950）是民國時期的國民黨政治元老和商業鉅子，地位舉足輕重，他同時也是備受景仰的文人畫家兼書法家。1930年，張荔英與中國外交部長陳友仁共諧連理。陳友仁以積極推動孫中山的反帝國政策稱譽於世，素有「鐵腕外交家」之稱，1927年成功以強硬手段從英人手中收復漢口和九江。四十年代張氏留華期間，人身自由受到限制，但仍能於上海新城飯店展出作品。1944年陳友仁去世，張氏留在上海繼續作畫。戰事結束後，她開展了創作之旅，一邊繪畫一邊遊遍中國大江南北。這段日子積微成著，最終造就1949年她在紐約亞洲協會舉辦的個展，展覽共展出八十五幅畫作，所有作品都是她在中國生活和遊歷期間完成的。

《三色堇花》優雅迷人，珍貴難得，自上世紀九十年代首度納入亞洲私人收藏後再未露面。張氏筆下柔和的粉色調，突顯畫中靜物典雅含蓄的氣質。三色堇象徵愛情，也許亦間接代表張氏與丈夫在亂世之中依然相濡以沫、長相廝守的關係。兩盆三色堇沿着對角線形成構圖，在灰褐色背景的映襯下，斜向置於木桌上。筆觸婉約，精練圓潤，描繪淡紫、硃紅、奶白各種色調的片片花瓣，映襯以深青和翠綠畫成的葉片。陶盤和木架是中式家庭常見的典型物件，但經張氏筆觸表現豐富的藝術處理後，這些日常之物就平添了優雅的韻味。物件的弧形線條和形態組成了具層次感的構圖，可能是回應她父親對中國古董的熱愛。類似的陶瓷製品在包括張氏的《金蓮花》（約1940–1947）和《水仙與石榴》（1943）等作品反覆出現，這兩幅畫作也曾借展於新加坡國家美術館的「此心安處——張荔英藝術展」。值得一提的是，三色堇形態優雅，毫不刻意，就像藝術家信筆一揮的生活景致。新加坡國家美術館的永久館藏中有張氏在同期創作的靜物畫，描繪廚房裡的食品，而這兩盆三色堇也似是在她花園或廚房栽種的小盆景。《三色堇花》展示了張氏陰柔含蓄的女性特質，將尋常之物昇華至典雅雋妙的層次。

張荔英運用她在歐美接受的學術訓練，以及遊遍世界各地的經歷，發展出令人難以忘懷的風格，而且在不同文化都能夠產生共鳴。法籍華裔女藝術家潘玉良於1944年繪畫的《青瓶紅菊》也在本季登場，張荔英就像潘氏一樣，從作品到身分都橫跨中西。潘氏的《青瓶紅菊》和張氏的《三色堇花》同樣創作於四十年代，當時中國正奮勇抗日，而法國的巴黎人也在面對納粹德國的侵佔。這兩位藝術家的勇氣、才情、經歷都十分勵志，不亞於西方同期包括貝爾特・莫里索、瑪麗・卡薩特、蘇珊・瓦拉東、瑪麗・羅蘭珊等現代女藝術家。

《三色堇花》展示了中國經歷巨變時張荔英的個人反思。1943年，張氏致力筆耕，在上海《雜誌》月刊發表關於現代中國藝術的觀點︰

《三色堇花》以柔美的姿態體現了張荔英的藝術哲學，而她在往後的藝術生涯裡仍不斷探索和發展其創作思想。