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Walasse Ting Born in China, Walasse Ting spent seven years in France, then went to the USA where he became an American national, before finally settling in Amsterdam.
China 1929 Ding Xiongquan was born in continental China, in Wuxi - a town 125 Km from Shanghai, near Suzhou - and spent his childhood in Shanghai. 1946 After reading I Ching (yi jing) the book of changes, he was inspired to travel, leaving China for Hong Kong.
France 1950 He travelled to France on a liner, arriving with neither a passport nor a visa, and with only five American dollars in his pocket. He spoke no French at all. In the beginning life was difficult, however he found a tiny room Passage Raguinot, and despite the cramped conditions he was still able to do enormous paintings, although he could not step back to look at his work. He had his first encounter with western art (expressionism, and Picasso) and immediately began to use oil paints, although he remained attached to his ink. Out of admiration for the French painter Matisse, Ting took the last syllable of his surname Hua La Si and changed it to -sse, as a homage to the French artist. Hence the name: Walasse. 1954 October 29 to November 18 Ting showed his new work (experimental pictures) in the Fachetti Studio, alongside Benrath, Bellegarde, Bruning, Bryen, Giannettasio, Downing, Graziani, Halpern, Hundertwasser, Ionesco, Koenig, Kosjas, Laubies, Messagier, L.P.Faure, Parisot, Tsingos, Van Haardt. G.W in Prisme des Arts n°2
1955 Dr Kuo Yu-Shou donated two paintings by Walasse Ting to the CERNUSCHI museum in Paris: Cheval, Horse ink on paper (77x96.5cm) and Combat aux grands sabres, Combat with large sabres, ink and relief on paper (91.5x177cm) He met Pierre Alechinsky who would become a lifelong friend, and taught him oriental calligraphy. Little by little everything came together: Alechinsky compiled the catalogue and wrote a text entitled Night and Day. Ting did a lithography and took photos; he then took the train, carrying his work, to the Taptoe gallery, where he lodged. Piet de Groof tells a story about when the invitations were about to be sent, just before the opening. Ting wanted to invite the Ambassador of China, doing the calligraphy on the invitation card himself. He knew that the Ambassador would be impressed. Critics highlighted the two cultures present in his work: The two friends did a collaborative work called " Where are you ? ", oil on canvas ( 200cm X 99 cm ) which was one of a series of paintings that Borge Birch wanted to exhibit under the title of by two brushes. The project was abandoned however the paintings were shown in the France gallery in 1963 under the title of Divertissement arrangé pour peinture à quatre mains (Divertissement duet ).
Christian Dotremont sums up their complementarity of their work together: In the Dutch experimental art group there were two artists who were important to Walasse Ting : Ting wrote a collection of poems which were published under the name of My Shit and My Love. They were presented at the Smith gallery in Brussels, in 1961.
The United States 1959 Walasse Ting left for the United States having spent seven years in France. He emigrated to New York. 1960 He married Nathalie. His workshop was in Manhattan at 100 West 25th Street, on the corner of 6th Avenue between Times Square and Washington Square. The windows of his appartment were soon covered with splashes of paint from his paintings, where the paint was thrown onto the canvas
like rain. The walls also bore the marks of his painted canvases. The following year, he met Sam Francis whom he became friends. It was while he was spending an evening in Sam Francis' appatment, with friends and artists, that he decided to write a book about the dominant artistic trends at that time, making it a comprehensive international overview. 1964 One Cent life was published, containing 68 lithographs from a variety of artists He introduced Alechinsky to acrylics when he was in New York, in a room in the Chelsea Hotel in 1965 and he was at the opening of remarks in the Margin: Central Park. Together they did several collaborative paintings each working on the contributions of the other. 1966 His daughter Mia was born 1969 His son Jesse was born The writings of his children, when they were still at school One day, and the poem My Dad were included in their father's exhibition catalogue at the Lefebre gallery in New York in 1979 He was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship Award for Drawing 1974 He became an American citizen.
His travels He made many trips to Europe: 1960 Copenhagen An exhibition was held at the Birch Gallery with 19 paintings and 8 ceramics. It was a great success, and exhibitions were then held in 1963 1972 1975 1980 1981 Paris He often took part in the salon de Mai, during the years 1961 to 1968. 1974 His first exhibition was held at the Maeght gallery On his fortieth birthday, Walasse Ting donated forty paintings and forty two studies to the CERNUSCHI Museum, along with his favourite ink bowl, and stick. This was a gesture to thank the museum for having displayed his early work. Most of the pieces are signed, or they carry a seal, or there are characters painted in red, or white, which represent his name as an artist: TSAN HUA TA TAO, rather than his name TING.
1976 A portfolio was published as a homage to Asger Jorn, including 14 lithographs by 14 artists. Ting did lithograph 11, on Arches Vellum, called For Jorn 75x54 cm 1981 Tahiti He went to following in Gauguin's footsteps. He admired Gauguin, and had bought one of his letters the previous year. In Tahiti he was surrounded by the exotic colours that he so loved. 1984 Peinture sur papier de riz was published by Yves Rivière. It brought together the 316 paintings that Walasse Ting had done, on rice paper, over five years 1975 - 1980, in different formats: 36x 48cm,180x97cm, 180x291cm, 180x388cm. A letter translated into several languages explained the meaning of Ting's name as an artist: TSAN HUA TA TAO butterfly dreams, millions of butterflies: colours, perfumes, the irripressible movement that he wants to impart on the rice paper. Amsterdam 1986 The death of his wife 1987 He lives in New York with his two children, in Greenwich Village. In the spring he decides to go with them to Holland, to live there for a while. We're going to Holland to paint figures, flowers, and colours and you'll take photos of what I paint and how I paint They spent two months in gallery, converted into a workshop, in Keizergracht where he painted 66 models,surrounded by flowers and fruit. His children were very taken with Amsterdam. The canals reminded Ting of Hangzhou. He too loved the city so much that he decided to live there permanently. 2002 He suffered a massive brain haemorrhage which left him unable to continue his work. He is now being cared for in a medical institute in Amstelveen D.Sicard multiple sources: Like every synthesis, this biography only exists , thanks to the work of specialists that can be found in the books and catalogues indexed in the bibliography of this site. |
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