Brussels park, 1940s

Le parc de Bruxelles, 1940s oil on canvas, signed “SADJI” lower left.
On the back is the old label of the 1945 exhibition at ‘La Petite Galerie’ in Brussels.
Height: 147
Width: 116

Provenance:
Private collection. Brussels, Belgium

Exhibition:
“EXPOSITION SADJI”, La Petite Galerie, Brussels, Belgium, Oct 5 – 18, 1945, Ref. 46.

Sadji (1914-2005) ‘Le Parc de Bruxelles’ 1940’s. Oil on Canvas. Signed Sadji on the lower left. Bears an old label in the back from an exhibition in the ‘Petite Galerie’ in Brussels in 1945.

Provenance: Belgium Brussels private collection.
Exhibition: ‘EXPOSITION SADJI’ la petite galerie, Brussels, Belgium. Oct. 5-18, 1945. Reference number 46

SADJI “The Chinese Van Gogh

Sha Qi, known as Sadji in Europe, was born in Ningbo in 1914. Immersed in art from an early age, he entered the ChangMing College of Fine Arts in Shanghai in 1929 and studied at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts in 1932. In 1934, the young man was accepted into the art department of Nanjing Central University, where he met his mentor, Xu Beihong (1895-1953), then professor and head of the art department.

In 1937, after being recommended by Xu, Sadji left China to study Western painting at Belgium’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He studied under Alfred Bastien (1873-1955), a post-impressionist painter who focused on light effects and developed a discreet luminism. Sadji’s work borrows from Post-Impressionism, Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism. In 1938, he was awarded first prize by the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts de Belgique. The following year, he graduated with the highest distinction, winning “La Médaille d’or d’excellence de l’art”.

Our painter spent ten years of his life in Europe. He organized several exhibitions, including one in 1945 at La Petite Galerie, where our painting was exhibited. In 1946, suffering psychologically as a result of the Great War, Sadji returned to his native country, where he remained for the rest of his life. After a few years, the loss of his family plunged him into depression. Despite a difficult end to his life, he never gave up his love of and devotion to art.

During the Belgian period, we can see the influence of Flemish Baroque painting in his portraits, and the characteristics of realism in his landscapes.
“Le parc de Bruxelles” displays a remarkable pictorial mastery of light and color. Finally, note the particularly large format of this canvas, which appears to be one of the artist’s largest paintings.