LI JIN (b.1958) Reading at Night, 2005LI JIN (b.1958)Reading at Night, 2005Ink on paper, signed and dated, with calligraphic inscription and seal of the artist, glazed and framed. 38.1cm wide x 44.5cm high (15in wide x 17 1/2 high).李津（1958年生） 夜讀圖卷 水墨紙本 鏡框 2005年作The inscription on the present lot reads: 夜讀圖卷, which may be translated as 'Scroll of Night Reading'. It depicts a man sitting before an open book, but his mind wanders as he gazes up. A cat sleeps beneath the table echoing the figures' idleness and leisure.Li Jin and his work belongs to the 'New Literati' movement of Chinese ink painting but are more quirky than most, exuding a hedonistic and charming appreciation for the simple things in life, notably food, wine and sex, but also bathing and sleeping etc. Before his study in the Painting Department at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, where he now teaches, Li Studied dyeing and weaving at the Tianjin Academy of Arts and Crafts, which partly explains his mastery of pattern and colour. His aunt was Zhou Sicong (1939-1996), an important ink painter who often made use of bleeding colour or ink. This technique can often be seen in Li's own paintings which hint at insouciance but, like all good literati painting, could not be created without mastery of the brush. Li Jin gradually formed his uniquely playful style in the early 1990s, and is now famous for his humour and seductive depictions of the good life. In contrast to the formality and stereotyped subjects of historical literati paintings - often derived from famous texts, pictures by earlier masters, or both - food and wine and the simple things in today's life are Li's subject matter. The Falstaffian figure that appears repeatedly in his work is modelled on himself. For more on Li Jin, see China Onward: The Estella Collection, Chinese Contemporary Art, 1966-2006, Humlebaek, 2007, pp.148-150.Li Jin's paintings are in several important institutions and collections globally, including the National Arts Museum, Beijing; Hong Kong Museum of Art; Olenska Collection, Geneva; Seattle Art Museum; and the Berkeley Art Museum.