Ladislas KIJNO (1921-2012). "Return from China".... Lot 188

Ladislas KIJNO (1921-2012). "Return from China". Oil on canvas signed lower left, countersigned, titled and dated 1983 on the back. Height : 116 116 - W 89 cm (a tiny paint skip) Provenance : Acquired directly from the artist by his friend Albert Decourt. Ladislas Kijno was born in Warsaw. Polish on his father's side and French on his mother's, he began by studying philosophy in Lille. His meeting with Germaine Richier definitively rallied him to painting. The physical and spiritual journey is a key element in his work. By connecting with the civilizations he encounters, he supports his metaphysical quest for "the deep secret of the universe". The painting we present stems from his journey to the Middle Kingdom in the early 1980s, alongside lyrical abstraction artist Chu Teh Chun. This journey gave rise to the "Retour de Chine" cycle, emblematic of the artist's work and the subject of several exhibitions, including one at the Manège Royal in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1985. Our work concentrates Kijno's essentials: abstraction, the quest, glycero-spray vaporization and the ovoid shapes so dear to him.