{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":58412,"auction_id":121,"set_id":155,"lot_number":"46","artist":"Lao Lianben (b. 1948)","title":"Secret 7","starting_price":1800000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1977 (lower left)","medium":"oil on wood","size":"36\" x 35\" (91 cm x 89 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Acquired directly from the artist","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"The works of Lao Lianben carry within them a sense of secrecy that he reveals only to the most dedicated. Minimalist to the bone, his works are stark and sincere, the subtlest brushstrokes indicating a scar, a soot, or a reference — an indicator of the artist's immense talent. <br /> <br />Like many of his works, Secret 7 takes after his self-proclaimed fascination with Zen Buddhism. Though not a practitioner himself, he is nevertheless inspired by the mysticism and principles it holds. <br /> <br />“When I observe monks in their daily way of life, they allow me to imagine and create stories in my head. My eyes enable me to form ideas and come up with motifs for my paintings,” he said in his 2023 interview with Lifestyle INQ. <br /> <br />One of the most recurring elements in Lao’s canvases is an ensō. A circle drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes, the ensō symbolizes absolute enlightenment. In the biography of the Indian philosopher and Mahayana Buddhist monk Nagarjuna, the symbol could be recognized as the true form of buddhanature: “Neither large nor small, neither wide nor narrow, neither good nor bad, neither transient nor eternal.” <br /> <br />As such, this 1977 Secret 7 could be among his earliest ensō works. Though there could be a possible deniability as to whether this piece is an ensō, the symbol’s meanings could coincide with what this painting could be. The cyclical nature of life – whether it be from birth to death, from summer to winter, present to absence, emptiness to prosperity – is echoed in this piece, both in the unbroken stroke of the circle and the almost symmetrical elements placed at the center of the canvas. <br /> <br />“What is remarkable about Lao Lianben is his ability to create works that function simultaneously on several levels: aesthetic, philosophical, spiritual, critical,” Hervé Lancelin wrote in his art critique ‘Lao Lianben and the Poetics of Obscurity.’ “He merges techniques to create an immediacy that directly evokes personal imagination, rather than an analytical reference to a particular style.” <br /> <br />Indeed, Secret 7 teaches its viewers to look “not with one’s eyes but rather with one’s whole being,” as French contemporary philosopher Jean-Louis Chrétien once said. They must draw in to look at it, to willingly listen to the silence. <br /> <br />“To truly appreciate Lao’s silence then, one has to be blessed with the patience to pay attention for a long time and the perseverance to listen for even a longer time,” Passion and Compassion: The Lao Lianben Collection of Dr. Leovino Ma. Garcia’s exhibition catalog writes. “Only then, perhaps, can one finally hear the paintings (as in Rilke’s Archaic Torso of Apollo) imploring you: ‘You must change your life!'” (Hannah Valiente)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":3400000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":3400000,"userBid":null,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":null,"reserve_price":0,"hammer_price":4085440,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":63670,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/121/155/lot/46.jpg","isFeatured":1},{"id":63884,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/121/155/lot/46c.jpg","isFeatured":0},{"id":63883,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/121/155/lot/46b.jpg","isFeatured":0},{"id":63881,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/121/155/lot/46a.jpg","isFeatured":0}]},"increment":[2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":45,"next":47,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}