Mao Xuhui is a key figure in Chinese Contemporary Art—a driving force behind the Southwestern art scene during the avant-garde art movement in China in the 1980s, Mao was involved in seminal exhibitions that determined the development of Chinese Contemporary Art. These include one of the first self-funded exhibitions in China, New Concrete Image, Shanghai in 1985, and the pivotal China/Avant-Garde exhibition, Beijing in 1989 which featured the likes of Zhang Xiaogang, Ding Fang, Wang Guangyi and Pan Dehai. Additionally, Mao was a founding member of the significant Southwestern Art Research Group in 1986, which focused primarily on new figurative painting in Kunming. Mao Xuhui’s practice has evolved over t.mes , and in the mid-1990s the artist began to shift his focus towards the everyday, becoming known for his Scissor, Chair and Parents series. His visit to an exhibition on German Expressionism at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities museum in Beijing was a decisive moment in his career, finding in German Expressionism the ability to reflect a truer essence of life’s experiences, defined by bright colours, simplified forms and rich brushwork, which can be seen in his mature canvases such as the present work, Dream of Guishan No. 5 (2008).

One of the most important recurring themes found throughout Mao Xuhui’s diverse oeuvre is the rich red landscape of Guishan and the representation of the pastoral ideal. Significantly, Dream of Guishan No. 5 incorporates both Mao’s favoured “scissor” motif, and the striking red earth of Guishan, making this a highly desirable painting by the artist to come to auction. While enrolled at the Kunming Normal College (now the Yunnan Arts University), Gui would go on sketching trips to Guishan with his classmates, including Zhang Xiaogang, from as early as 1979. Going back to Yunnan Arts University in September 2006 to teach, Mao returned once again to the countryside around Mount Guishan, revitalising his engagement with the subject. Situated on a plateau around 120 kilometres from Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan province, Guishan mountain and the small stone village of Nuohei served as and continues to serve as an abundant source of inspiration for the artist. His works portraying Guishan are imbued with a distinct nostalgia for a peaceful, self-sufficient existence that Mao observed there—a veritable celebration of the rural. Dream of Guishan No. 5 is a bold, dynamic painting, in which a pair of monumental scissors surge upwards into the brilliant blue sky. The green of the scissors juxtaposes with the rich red of the earth, into which the form of a horse blends gracefully. Mao is able to capture both the majesty and the purity of the sublime landscape, charging the scene with a vital energy through the horizontal positioning of the land’s surface, in contrast with the mountain-like scissors that rise to the upper left-hand corner of the canvas. This work is a key painting by Mao Xuhui, a vivid example that typifies the artist’s most famous motifs.

毛旭輝是中國當代藝術的靈魂人物。作為1980年代中國西南地區前衛藝術運動的主要推手，毛旭輝曾參與不少左右中國當代藝術發展的重要展覽，包括1985年在上海舉行的中國首屆藝術家自費展覽「新具象展」，以及1989年北京重要大展「中國/前衛」，後者的參展藝術家包括張曉剛、丁方、王廣義及潘德海。毛旭輝亦於1986年與幾位藝術家同儕成立了西南藝術研究群體，主力研究昆明新具象繪畫。隨著時間推移，毛旭輝的創作手法亦經歷蛻變。1990年代中期，藝術家開始將創作重心轉移至日常生活的種種，憑藉「剪刀」、「椅子」與「父母」系列享負盛名。毛氏曾往北京民族文化宮參觀「德國表現主義」展覽，該次觀展體驗對他的事業生涯留下深遠影響。他發現，德國表現主義作品的明亮用色、簡潔形態與豐富筆觸能夠反映生命的蘊奧與真諦，並將這些創作特色融匯到其成熟時期作品中，如《圭山之夢·五》（2008年作）所示。

毛旭輝的作品題材豐富多樣，其中一個最常見的主題，非圭山的遼闊紅土、如詩如畫的美好山野景象莫屬。《圭山之夢·五》結合了毛氏偏愛的「剪刀」主題與圭山的壯觀紅土景致，兩者的形象在畫中顯而易見，如此佳作現身拍場，實在不可多得。自1979年起，在雲南師範大學（現稱雲南藝術學院）習藝的毛旭輝不時會與同學前往圭山寫生，張曉剛亦是其中一員。2006年9月，毛氏返回母校任教，執起教鞭的他重訪圭山附近的山野，再次以這片土地為題創作。圭山位於離雲南省省會昆明市約120公里外的高原上，一直以來，它的優美風景與附近的糯黑村均為藝術家帶來無限啟發。這批以圭山為題的作品總是洋溢著一股獨特的鄉愁，體現毛旭輝在這片大地上所體會到的祥和平靜、安然自足之感，是藝術家對大自然之美的一闕謳歌。本作構圖大膽、充滿活力，畫中可見一把巨型剪刀拔地而起，直指蔚藍天空。剪刀的青綠與大地的飽和棕紅色互相並置，後方的馬匹步履優雅，三者和諧呼應。畫中的紅土大地呈傾斜角度，剪刀與大地垂直，朝畫面左上角巍然聳立，將圭山的壯麗風光與自然的純粹美態盡呈紙上，為作品注入充沛活力。《圭山之夢·五》集毛旭輝最為人熟知的創作主題於一身，畫中圖案活潑鮮明，是這位藝術家的重要代表作。