LUI SHOU-KWAN (1919-1975) Zen Lotus, 1972LUI SHOU-KWAN (1919-1975)Zen Lotus, 1972 Ink and colour on paper, signature and seals of the artist. 46cm high x 43.5cm wide (18 1/8in high x 17 1/8in wide).呂壽琨（1919-1975） 禪荷 紙本設色 鏡心 1972年作Lui Shou-Kwan (Lü Shoukun) was born in Guangzhou in 1919. His father was a painter and scholar. He majored in economics at Guangzhou University and in 1948 moved to Hong Kong, where he was a leader in the New Ink Painting movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1949, he joined the Hong Kong Yaumati Ferry Company as an inspector and worked there until 1966. He also taught ink painting at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His work falls primarily into two categories, described as Hong Kong landscapes and Chan (Zen) paintings. Stylistically, he adopted abstract forms and is credited for fusing Western styles with Hong Kong ink paintings. See Ink: Contemporary Chinese Painting from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, Stanford, 2018, pp.188-189.Executed in 1972, Zen Lotus sits at the pinnacle of Lui Shou-Kwan's most revered period, the last decade of his life when a deep fascination with Buddhism profoundly transformed his artistic output. In his iconic Zen paintings, the artist established a powerful visual idiom to represent the lotus, a symbol for eternity, purity, and Buddhahood. With dense ink applied with bursting energy and spontaneity, the lotus leaves are heightened by the red paint, hinting at the moment of epiphany, inviting viewers to meditate upon the artist's lifelong pursuit of Zen.Compare with a related painting by Lui Shou-Kwan, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 May 2019, lot 808.