{"status":true,"msg":{"data":{"id":1947,"auction_id":4,"set_id":5,"lot_number":"43","artist":"Lao Lianben (b. 1948)","title":"Inner Light","starting_price":600000,"signed_dated":"signed and dated 1995 (lower left and verso)","medium":"mixed media on paper","size":"30\" x 22 1/2\" (76 cm x 57 cm)","property":null,"coa":null,"provenance":"Acquired directly from the artist","exhibited":null,"literature":null,"write_up":"The work of art aptly titled “Inner \nLight” is among the Lao Lianben \npieces that evince Zen beliefs \nand practices. As with most of his \nworks, the bright light illuminating \nthe darkness could be seen as a \nmanifestation of the spirit when \none is in deep meditation. However, \nfor the lot at hand, it is more \nreasonable to interpret “inner light” \nin terms of aesthetics than a spiritual \nexperience.<br /><br />\nIn traditional Japanese aesthetics, \nwabi-sabi is a worldview centered \non the acceptance and appreciation \nof the beauty that is “imperfect, \nimpermanent, and incomplete.” \nWabi-sabi is a composite of two \ninterrelated aesthetic concepts: \nwabi and sabi. For the Stanford \nEncyclopedia of Philosophy, wabi \nmeans “subdued, austere beauty.” \nIn other words, wabi is a quality \nof austere and serene beauty \nexpressing a mood of spiritual \nsolitude recognized in Zen Buddhism.<br /><br />\nAlso from the article of the Stanford \nEncyclopedia of Philosophy about \nJapanese Aesthetics, an excerpt \nfrom “In Praise of Shadows” (1933) \nwritten by the novelist Tanizaki \nJun’ichiro provides enlightenment \nabout the manifestation of wabi \nin our surroundings, using as an \nexample the alcove or tokonoma in \nthe traditional Japanese teahouse:<br /><br />\n“An empty space is marked off with \nplain wood and plain walls, so that \nthe light drawn into it forms dim \nshadows within emptiness. There \nis nothing more. And yet, when we \ngaze into the darkness that gathers \nbehind the crossbeam, around the \nflower vase, beneath the shelves,<br /><br /> \nthough we know perfectly well it \nis mere shadow, we are overcome \nwith the feeling that in this small \ncorner of the atmosphere there \nreigns complete and utter silence; \nthat here in the darkness immutable \ntranquility holds sway.”<br /><br />\nLao depicts in this piece a structure \nthat is illuminated at the center of the \ncanvas, much like in the “In Praise \nof Shadows” where the emptiness \ncreated by the alcove invites a play \nof light and shades. And, as an artist \nwho devotes his art to expressing the \nessence of light, perhaps it can also \nbe said that he wanted to impart \nin this painting that inner light will \nalways prevail against the darkness. \n(Isabella Romarate)","lot_group":"PAINTING","lot_details_html":null,"alias":null,"hp":950000,"bp":0.2016,"isWithdrawn":0,"accounting_hp":950000,"userBid":8716,"isPaid":0,"userId":22,"lot_status":"SOLD","isDone":1,"bid_history_id":null,"reserve_price":null,"hammer_price":1141520,"fav":0},"image":[{"id":1974,"img_url":"https://leongallery.sgp1.digitaloceanspaces.com/v2/auction/4/5/lot/43.jpg","isFeatured":1}]},"increment":[900000,1000000,1100000,1200000,1300000,1400000,1500000,1600000,1700000,1800000,1900000,2000000,2200000,2400000,2600000,2800000,3000000,3200000,3400000,3600000,3800000,4000000,4200000,4400000,4600000,4800000,5000000,5500000,6000000,6500000,7000000,7500000,8000000,8500000,9000000,9500000,10000000,11000000,12000000,13000000,14000000,15000000,16000000,17000000,18000000,19000000,20000000],"prev":42,"next":44,"count_bid":0,"bid_history":[],"tokenExpired":1}