‘NEW YEAR’S FISH’, BY LI KUCHAN (1899-1983)China. Ink on paper. Depicting an underwater scene with a catfish and another fish, well painted in the artist’s characteristic bold and spontaneous style.Inscriptions: Upper left, inscribed ‘Good fortune for the year’, one seal, ‘Li Ying zhi yin’.Provenance: British trade.Condition: Good condition with minor wear, a central crease, minor creasing to the edges, little soiling, and foxing.Dimensions: Size 63.8 x 44.8 cmLi Kuchan (1899-1983) was a renowned Chinese painter, calligrapher, and art educator who specialized in free-stroke brush paintings. Li was born in Gaotang, Shandong, into a poor family and had to take up hard labor in order to pay for art school in Beijing. In 1923, he began to study under Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and was considered his best student. Later, Li began to work as an art teacher, and taught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts from 1950 until his death in 1983. He specialized in bird-and-flower paintings using the free and spontaneous ‘xieyi’ style (freehand brushwork used in traditional Chinese painting).The fish is closely linked to Chinese New Year traditions. The word for fish, ‘yu’, is a homophone for the Chinese word wish and abundance, thus they often represent the wish for abundance in the New Year. It is also used to symbolize richness, plenty, surplus, luck, prosperity, and happiness.Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: New York, 12 September 2012, lot 2078Price: USD 4,750 or approx.EUR 6,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: Li Kuchan (1899-1983) FishExpert remark:pare the closely related motif, vivid brushstroke, and size (62.2 x 39.4 cm)李苦禪 (1899-1983) 款《長年大利圖》中國，紙本水墨。描繪了一條鯰魚和一條鱖魚水中嬉戲場景，藝術家特有的大寫意風格。款識：長年大利，禪；鈴印：李英之印