Giant of Chinese contemporary ink art Liu Dan shows works from 4 decades in Hong Kong

Leading contemporary Chinese ink artist Liu Dan is holding his largest solo show to date, at British auction house Phillips’ space in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District.

The selling exhibition, “Liu Dan: Morphogenesis”, is a rare showcase of 26 Chinese ink and watercolour works created by the artist over four decades.

They highlight his fascination with rocks, in particular Taihu stone – a kind of perforated limestone from Dongting Mountain in the Chinese city of Suzhou that has inspired Chinese scholars for thousands of years.

The most eye-catching piece on display is Taihu Rock aka “Yu Ling Long” (from Yu Garden, Shanghai) (2024), which depicts the “exquisite jade rock” – a large porous boulder – from Yu Garden, a traditional Chinese garden in Shanghai dating back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).

At HK$10 million (US$1.3 million), the asking price for the sizeable ink painting is the highest in the exhibition.