Ting Walasse

1928-2010, Wuxi China

Introduction

Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu in 1928, Walasse Ting is an artist celebrated for his colourful and bright depictions of animals, flora and sultry women. He briefly studied at the Shanghai Art Academy in the 1940s, before leaving for Paris in 1948 at the age of nineteen. There he became associated with artists belonging to the avant-garde group CoBrA. In 1958, he travelled to New York, where he befriended the American artist Sam Francis; here Ting became strongly influenced by Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art. In 1964 he wrote One Cent Life, edited by Francis and published by E.W. Kornfeld, which involved collaborating with twenty-eight European and American Pop Art and Expressionist artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Joan Mitchell, and included sixty-two original lithographs. In 1977, he won the Guggenheim Fellowship Award for his drawings. His paintings during this period are filled with bold dripping brushstrokes mixed with bright acrylic pigments, but by the 1970s, he began experimenting with figures, developing the distinctive style that we are so familiar with today. His paintings are a sheer testimony to love, life and beauty. His paintings of women, flowers, cats, fish, horses, and watermelons are often painted in a rich palette of bright acrylics on rice paper, layered with powerful effervescent brushstrokes in Chinese ink. He passed away in 2010.

Alisan Fine Arts organised Ting’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong in 1986 and has since then held more than ten solo shows for him; the most recent one in 2017 to celebrate his prolific life. Taipei Fine Arts Museum also held a retrospective in 2010. His works have been collected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Chicago Institute of Art; Tate Gallery, London; Musée Cernuschi, Paris; Shanghai Art Museum; Taipei Fine Arts Museum; Hong Kong Museum of Art.


BIOGRAPHY

1928   Born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China

1940   Studied at the Shanghai Art Academy, China

1946   Moved to Hong Kong

1952   Arrived in Paris, France

1958   Moved to New York, United States

1974   Became an American citizen             

1977   Awarded a fellowship for drawing from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, United States

2010   Passed away on May 17 in New York, United States

 

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 

2017

2016                               

  • Walasse Ting: The Flower Thief, Musee Cernuschi, Paris, France

2010               

2009               

  • The Catto Gallery, London, United Kingdom

2008               

2002

2001               

  • Yibo Gallery, Shanghai, China

2000

  • Scheringa Museum, Spanbroek, Netherlands
1999
  • The Catto Gallery, London, United Kingdom

1998               

1997

1996               

  • Wetterling Teo Gallery, Singapore
  • Galerie Delaive, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1995               

  • Gallerie Guy Pieters, Knokke, Belgium
  • Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1994               

  • Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Belgium Kunstforum, Ghent, Belgium
  • P Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
  • Tresors, Singapore

1993            

  • Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Apollo Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Avant-Grande Art Centre, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
  • P Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
  • Galerie Luc Pieters Galerie, Knokke, Belgium
  • Galerie l’Orangerie, St. Paul-de-Vence, France

1992          

  • Sala Nonell, Barcelona, Spain
  • Galerie Acolea, Madrid, Spain
  • Ghent Lineart Internationale, Ghent, Belgium

1991

  • Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
  • Sala Nonell, Barcelona, Spain
  • Galerie Acolea, Madrid, Spain
  • Galleria del Monte Ischia, Ischia Island, Italy
  • Arthouse Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

1990               

  • Galerie Alcolea, Barcelona, Spain
  • Galerie Alcolea, Madrid, Spain
  • Galerie Moustache, Osaka, Japan
  • Galerie l’Orangerie, St. Paul-de-Vence, France
  • Ghent Lineart Internationale, Ghent, Belgium
  • Galleria 2RC, Milan, Italy
  • Galeria de Arte, Almancil, Portugal
  • Louis Stern Galleries, Beverly Hills, United States

1989               

  • American Club, Hong Kong
  • Lens Fine Art, Antwerp, Belgium
  • American Prints Valencia, Valencia, Spain
  • Galerie Lucy Weill-Seligmann, Paris, France
  • Galerie Ostermalm, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Galerie Scandinavia, Goteburg, Sweden

1988              

  • Galerie Alcolea, Barcelona, Spain
  • Galerie Alcolea, Madrid, Spain
  • Galerie Guy Pieters Knokke, Belgium
  • Galerie Asbaek, Horsens, Denmark
  • Galeria Torres Clary Reus, Spain
  • Ghent Lineart Internationale, Ghent, Belgium

1987

  • Galerie Asbaek, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • Gallery Esperanza, Montreal, Canada
  • Elfin Art Gallery, Quebec, Canada
  • Ars Mundi, Hanover, Germany
  • Galerie l’Orangerie, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

1986               

  • Galerie Nouvelles Images, The Hague, Netherlands
  • P Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
  • Galeria del Manifesto, Verona, Italy
  • Galerie Dessers Hasselt, Belgium
  • Kunstforum Ghent, Ghent, Belgium
  • Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1985               

  • Art Unlimited, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Galerie La Hune, Paris, France
  • Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Galerie Asbaek, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1984               

  • Galerie Huset, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States
  • Avant-Grande Art Centre, Taichung, Taiwan
  • Lung Chiang Art Gallery, Kao Hsiung, Taiwan
  • Galerie BBL, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Galeria 2RC, Rome, Italy
  • Galeria 2RC, Milan, Italy

1983               

  • Galerie Dessers, Hasselt, Belgium               
  • Galerie Nouvelles Images, The Hague, Netherlands
  • Gallery Koppelmann, Leverkusen, Germany
  • Lens Fine Art, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Galerie Grafica Club, Milan, Italy
  • Galerie Birch, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg, Denmark  

1982               

  • National Gallery of Art, Reykjavik, Iceland
  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States      

1980               

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States

1979               

  • Galerie Nouvelles Images, The Hague, Netherlands
  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States

1978               

  • Lens Fine Art, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Galerie Aele, Madrid, Spain

1977               

  • Galerie Adrian Maeght, Paris, France
  • Galerie Grafica Club, Milan, Italy

1975               

  • Galerie Birch, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • National Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Galerie Nord, Randers, Denmark
  • Kornfeld and Klipstein, Bern, Switzerland

1974

  • Galerie Minami, Tokyo, Japan
  • Galerie Adrian Maeght, Paris, France

1973

  • Galerie Birch, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States

1972

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States
  • Galerie Birch, Copenhagen, Sweden

1971

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States

1970

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States
  • Galerie Birch, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • Esther Bear Gallery, Santa Barbara, United States
  • Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, United States

1969

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States

1968

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States
  • Galerie de France, Paris, France

1967

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States
  • J.L. Hudson Gallery, Detroit, United States
  • Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, United States

1966

  • Galerie Lefebre, New York, United States
  • Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, United States

1965

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States

1964

  • Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, United States

1963               

  • Lefebre Gallery, New York, United States
  • Galerie Birch, Copenhagen, United States

1962               

  • Galerie St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria

1961               

  • Galerie Van de Loo, Munich, Germany
  • Galerie Rive Gauche, Paris, France
  • Galerie Smith, Brussels, Belgium
  • Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, United States

1960               

  • Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, United States
  • Galerie Espace, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Galerie Birch, Copenhagen, Sweden

1957               

  • Galerie Chalette, New York, United States

1956               

  • Galerie Taptoe, Brussels, Belgium

1954              

  • Galerie Paul Facchetti, Paris, France

1952               

  • Hotel Cecil, Hong Kong
1959               
  • Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, United States

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
  • Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
  • 1st Taipei Dangdai, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2018
2017  

2016                               

2015               

  • Art Basel Hong Kong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong                           
  • Syncretic Visions: The First Generation of Chinese Diaspora Artists in America, FINE ART ASIA, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
  • Art Taipei 2015, Taipei, Taiwan

2012                              

2010                               

2009
  • Hong Kong International Art & Antiques Fair, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Centre, Hong Kong
2007                               
  • Exploration: New Ink Art Shanghai 2007, 3rd Shanghai Ink Biennial, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States

Guggenheim Museum, New York, United States

Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States

Rockefeller University, New York, United States

Chicago Art Institue, Chicago, United States

Museum of Fine Art, Boston, United States

M C A, Los Angeles, United States

Carnegie Institue, Pittsburgh, United States

U.S. Steel, Pittsburgh, United States

Gulf Oil Corp, Pittsburgh, United States

SAMA, Pennsylvania, United States

Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, United States

Chrysler Museum, Provincetown, United States

Baltimore Museum, Baltimore, United States

Philadephia Museum, Philadephia, United States

Santa Barbara Museum, Santa Barbara, United States

Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Virginia, United States

Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, United States

Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, United States

Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hannover, New Hampshire, United States

Musée Cernuschi, Paris, France

Tate Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Silkeborg Kunstmuseum, Silkeborg, Denmark

Randers Museum, Randers, Denmark

Israel National Museum, Jerusalem, Israel

National Gallery of Art, Reykjavik, Iceland

Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan

Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

1961   My Shit and My love

1964   One Cent Life

1967   Chinese Moonlight

1969   Hot and Sour Soup

1971   Green Banana

1974   Trip, All in My Head, Good Morning

1977   Red Mouth

1984   Rice Paper Paintings

1988   Jolies Dames

1993   Blue Sky

1995   Acrylic on Canvas

1997   A Very Hot Day