GUAN SHANYUE (1912-2000), TIGRE

GUAN SHANYUE (1912-2000)
TIGRE
Monté en rouleau, encre et couleur sur papier.
Signé avec un cachet de l'artiste.
Etiquette inscrite par Guo Youshou (1901-1978), "Dédicacé à l'Ambassadeur général de France Zinovi Pechkoff, 6 décembre 1945 à Chengdu".
Dimensions: 145,5 x 68,5 cm. (57 ¼ x 27 in.)

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM THE ZINOVI PECHKOFF (1884-1966) COLLECTION
Zinovi Alekseyevich Pechkoff was a Russian-born French general and ambassador. His military and diplomatic career spanned multiple continents over several decades, including a particularly significant period from 1943-1945 in China. First dispatched as Head of the French Military Mission to China, Pechkoff was soon promoted to the post of Ambassador, representing Free France to the Nationalist Government (KMT) in Chongqing. During his tenure, Pechkoff built strong and lasting relationships at the highest levels of the Nationalist Government. This was testified to by Pechkoff’s 1964 appointment by President Charles de Gaulle to act as a special envoy to Chiang Kai-shek. Pechkoff was given the sensitive task of informing the Generalissimo that France was about to grant formal diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China, and had been chosen on the basis of his previous working relationship with Chiang in wartime.
During his time in China, Pechkoff acquired a small but significant collection of modern Chinese paintings, including works by Xu Beihong, Guan Shanyue, Li Xiongcai, and Sun Zongwei. Two of these works are recorded as gifts to Pechkoff by prominent KMT Politicians, underscoring his prestige in Chongqing’s political and cultural circles. Owl and Sparrows by Li Xiongcai was gifted to Pechkoff by the KMT Minister of Education, Chen Lifu (1900-2001). While Tiger by Guanshanyue was gifted to Pechkoff on the 6 December 1945 in Chengdu, by the recently appointed UNESCO Assistant Director and Head of the International Culture and Education Office, Guo Youshou (1901-1978).
The martial symbolism of Owl and Sparrows and of Xu Beihong’s Standing Horse made them perfectly fitted to Pechkoff’s dual military and diplomatic wartime roles. While the image of a powerful apex predator in Guan Shanyue’s Tiger carried a triumphal message, celebrating the recent victory over Japan. Moreover, Tiger was gifted to Pechkoff on the day that General MacArthur ordered the arrest of former Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe (近衞文麿) and eight others as war criminals. This was an event that Guo and Pechkoff would certainly have known of in advance due to their senior positions, and so the date of the gift can be no coincidence.
Sun Zongwei’s Dancing Bodhisattva bears a label in English, noting that it was a Christmas gift to Pechkoff from a Major in the KMT Military. However, the label has been damaged and the name of the giver has been lost, reading only: “To General Z Pechkoff. For a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. From Major …ao-jo”. Given the provenance of the other four works in the collection, it is quite probable that Xu Beihong’s Standing Horse was also a political gift to Pechkoff. However, the mounting of this painting has been damaged and the titleslip lost, leaving no documentary record to support this probable provenance.
After the war Pechkoff wrote a meticulous inventory of his collections, begun in 1949. This inventory was annotated by his heirs after his death in 1966, clarifying the location of his possessions. All five paintings in this collection appear in this inventory. The works by Guan Shanyue, Li Xiongcai and Sun Zongwei are identified by title, and the horse painted by Xu Beihong is recorded under Xu’s Francophonic transliteration: “Ju Peon”.

Post Lot Text
GUAN SHANYUE (1912-2000)
TIGER
HANGING SCROLL, INK AND COLOUR ON PAPER