Footnotes

Provenance
Gimpel Fils Gallery, London, UK
Private Collection of Mr. Ross
Sale: Christie's East, New York, 16 December 1987, Lot 170
Private collection, New York
Thence by descent to the present owner

林壽宇
1958年12月12日
油彩 畫布
1958年作

簽名：12-12-58 LIN SHOW YU（畫布邊緣）；LIN SHOW YU DECEMBER 12 1958（畫框）

來源
英國，倫敦，金貝爾斐斯
羅斯先生舊藏
拍賣：紐約，佳士得，1987年12月16日，拍品編號 170
紐約私人收藏
現藏家繼承自上述來源

Born in 1933, Richard Lin was schooled in Hong Kong and the UK before studying architecture and fine arts in Regent Street Polytechnic in London. Graduating in 1958, Lin began his career as an artist, and it was also the year he created December 12 1958. After graduation, Lin devoted himself entirely to his art. Shortly thereafter, he gained recognition from Gimpel Fils Gallery, which hosted his first solo exhibition, where the work's first collector acquired it directly from the gallery.

December 12 1958 is one of the extremely rare oil paintings from Lin's early career, signifying the beginning of his career. At that time, Lin was deeply inspired by the American Abstract Expressionist master Mark Rothko, particularly Rothko's minimalist style and spiritual depth. Lin later recalled the powerful impact of seeing Rothko's work: "looking at the large blocks of colour in Rothko's paintings is like listening to the deep sounds of large drums coming from far, far away, and those sounds echo in my heart." From Rothko's works, Lin saw the spirit of the East, resonating with his upbringing, which merged Eastern and Western cultures and reflected the Daoist philosophies alongside Western modernism. This synthesis shaped Lin's unique style that bridged ancient and modern, East and West.

This painting employs a black-and-white colour palette, creating a balanced, horizontal layering of paint that conveys space and depth through gradients. The blurred edges of lines and overlapping blocks of colour evoke the Daoist spirit of unity with nature. The subtle radiance within the dense black suggests the cosmos at the dawn of creation, imbuing the work with a pure, ethereal atmosphere. By reducing form, line, and composition to their essence, Lin creates a minimalist piece suffused with the Daoist idea of "communing alone with the spirit of heaven and earth." Here, the artist appears to transcend personal emotions, using Western media to express the shapes and colours of the universe's flow. The work exudes a tranquility and poetic quality that transcends material boundaries, making viewers feel as if they are placed in a serene and poetic realm.

林壽宇生於1933年，十六歲時赴香港求學，之後前往英國，於英國倫敦綜合工藝學院修讀建築。1958年畢業後，林壽宇開啟他的藝術生涯，也是此件拍品《1958年12月12日》誕生的同一年。他畢業後立即全心投入創作，不久後獲得金貝爾斐斯畫廊青睞，並舉辦首次個人展覽，而此作的首位藏家正是從這間畫廊購入作品。

《1958年12月12日》是藝術家極少的早期油畫之一，標誌著林壽宇藝術生涯的開端。林壽宇當時深受美國抽象表現主義大師羅斯科簡潔的繪畫風格和所展現的精神性啟發，他曾回憶初見其作品的感受，「羅斯科畫面裡面大塊的色彩，彷彿來自很遠很遠，悠揚不斷的大鼓聲深沉、渾厚，在心裡來回不停地激盪著。」從羅斯科畫裡林壽宇看到東方的精神，因為他的成長歷程涉及中西文化的交融，深受老莊思想和西方現代主義的影響，這些因素共同形塑了他獨特的古今融合、東西跨界的內涵。

此作以黑白為主調，呈現平整均稱的水平式刷色，以漸變色調描繪出空間與深度，而邊緣模糊的線條與色塊層疊延伸的極簡構圖，折射出老子與大自然合一的道家精神。沉厚的黑色中泛出光芒，彷彿描繪了宇宙太初之始，充滿純淨空靈的氛圍。將造型、線條、構圖減之又減，轉化為簡淡的色彩，其中隱含著老莊「獨與天地精神相往來」的逍遙境界，藝術家猶如抽離個人情緒，用西方的媒材，傳達著宇宙運行的形與色。作品散發著一種超越物質界限的寧靜與詩意，讓觀者仿佛置身於一片超然的境地。