Artwork Description

Title: Heaven Above
Artist: Yufei Ning (宁雨霏)
Date: 2015
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 80 x 60 cm (31.5 x 23.6 in)

1. Artwork Identification
Heaven Above is a striking vertical oil painting by Yufei Ning, featuring the ethereal silhouettes of winter trees rising into a vast, swirling blue sky. Rendered with fine, calligraphic brushwork, the pale, leafless branches contrast with the richly layered ultramarine sky, creating a luminous tension between earth and atmosphere. Completed in 2015, the painting invites viewers to contemplate the stillness and sublimity of the natural world from a contemplative, upward-facing vantage.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Ning's composition reflects a synthesis of Chinese literati painting traditions and modern painterly abstraction. The delicate tracery of the trees echoes traditional ink landscape techniques, while the bold, rhythmic sky—with its visible circular brushwork—introduces a contemporary and almost meditative abstraction. The painting bears resemblance to the transcendental qualities found in the works of the Color Field painters, yet remains rooted in a specifically East Asian visual poetics.

3. Historical Context
Painted during a period of increasing international attention to Chinese contemporary art, Heaven Above aligns with a generation of painters seeking new ways to express traditional motifs through personal language. The emphasis on verticality, solitude, and atmospheric movement speaks to a broader return to landscape as a site of philosophical and emotional introspection in post-reform era Chinese painting.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition. The canvas remains taut and unwarped, with no visible areas of loss, cracking, or surface abrasion. The paint layer is stable, and the brushwork retains its intended texture and vibrancy. No conservation interventions are evident or required.

6. Artistic Significance
Heaven Above is a poignant meditation on stillness, seasonal transition, and the sublime presence of the sky. As part of Yufei Ning’s wider body of work exploring flora and natural phenomena, this painting stands out for its quiet drama and spiritual resonance. It offers collectors and connoisseurs a moment of expansive serenity, framed in the delicate interplay between form and atmosphere—a compelling addition to contemporary landscape painting.