SANYU
His Life and Complete Works in Oil
Volume One
Sanyu: His Life and Complete Works in Oil, Volume One traces the artist’s life from his early years in China and Japan to his artistic experimentation and development in Paris and New York, culminating in his tragic death—alone in Paris, impoverished, and forgotten.
An examination of Sanyu’s life reveals that it was precisely the polarities and tensions he experienced that compelled him to create a unique pictorial language—one that dynamically fused the spirit of Western modernity with the long-established traditions of Chinese art. Through this synthesis, Sanyu evolved from a Chinese artist of the modern period into a modernist with profound Chinese cultural roots. The resulting hybrid vision was unprecedented and enduring.
Author: Rita Wong
Graphic Design: Glenn Suokko
Publisher: Hatje Cantz, Berlin
Printed in Italy
Languages: English, Chinese, and French editions
Specifications: 248 pages, 300 illustrations
Format: 33 × 27 cm, Hardcover
SANYU
His Life and Complete Works in Oil
Volume Two
Sanyu: His Life and Complete Works in Oil, Volume Two presents the complete catalogue raisonné of the artist’s known oil paintings. Each of the 321 recorded works is meticulously documented with color reproductions, catalogue numbers, dates, dimensions, inscriptions, provenance, exhibition history, and bibliographic references.
Together, these entries form the most comprehensive visual and scholarly record of Sanyu’s paintings ever assembled. The publication stands as both an academic resource and a celebration of an artist whose lyrical simplicity and modernist sensibility bridged Eastern and Western art traditions.
Author: Rita Wong
Graphic Design: Glenn Suokko
Publisher: Hatje Cantz, Berlin
Printed in Italy
Languages: English, Chinese, and French editions
Specifications: 600 pages, 321 paintings illustrated
Format: 33 × 27 cm, Hardcover
I designed Sanyu: His Life and Complete Works in Oil for the Li Ching Foundation—an ambitious two-volume publication documenting the life and complete oil paintings of the modern Chinese artist Sanyu (1895–1966). Collaborating closely with author Rita Wong and publisher Hatje Cantz, I sought to create a design that reflects Sanyu’s quiet modernity and refined balance between Eastern and Western aesthetics.