Artist and Model

In this painting, Liu Kang offers a view of the process of creating a painting. It depicts an artist sketching a sarong-clad model, and in the background a mountain range recedes. The tea cups on the table, and scrolls of blank paper at the foot of rattan chair contribute to the relaxed ambience of the work. Liu Kang produced this work as a recollection of his 1952 painting trip to Indonesia, and the artist depicted here is his friend and fellow artist Chen Wen Hsi. Here, Liu Kang’s signature black outlines around his forms have been replaced with a white outline, a possible influence from batik painting in the region. Blocks of bright and contrasting colours have been used, giving the painting a design-like and whimsical quality. The work is a self-reflexive discourse on art, drawing attention to the artist and the process of art-making as subjects worthy of exploring in and of themselves. It also demonstrates the importance that Liu Kang accorded to outdoor painting, where the artist is directly in front of the subject in natural light, as opposed to the closed-off world of studio painting.