The Art Of The Seal Of The Art

Some days back, a couple of clients were comparing the different seals on Master Yun's paintings, deciding which painting was better, and which to buy. I was caught in between, so...might as well share the knowledge here.

Traditionally, the seals were like official signatures or autographs. It might probably be easy, in the past, to imitate or forge someone's calligraphy signature. So, the various seals were the authentication. People of importance kept their seals close to them (one might even wear it as a necklace!), making sure that their identity and authority were not stolen or compromised. Much like...keeping your handphone close to you nowadays. Surely, you wouldn't want someone sending messages to your contacts in your name.

Then, it gradually carried a symbolic meaning. For artworks, other than proving who was the artist, the number of seals used also symbolizes how important this piece of artwork might be. Different seals defined the type of artwork it might be, a casual seal for a casual painting, a formal seal for a piece of work that would be presented to the officials, a playful seal for something experimental, and so on.

Of course, these are pretty general rules. So let's go into Master Yun's paintings specifically.

This is what I call the "original seal". It reads "云龙子 (Yun Long Zi)", and is one of Master Yun's first seals. Usually, we find this at the end of Master Yun's calligraphy signature. This seal should be on every of Master Yun's paintings.

And then there is this "traditional seal". It's a one-word seal, it reads "雲 (云, Yun)", Master Yun's initial, of course.

The rest of the seals really show Master Yun's character, his faith, and his will for how arts and culture are supposed to be.

 

This square seal reads "富贵吉祥 (prosperity and auspiciousness)". While Master Yun's artworks might be predominantly based on Chinese culture, he shuns away from the aloof attitudes of scholars. Master Yun wants his artworks to be relatable to people, and people of our times.  

And he wills his paintings to be works of aspirations (hence, Celebrationism). "Prosperity and auspiciousness" is definitely something that we can all appreciate, and look forward to.

This one is pretty interesting. It reads "入门听鹤语 (Listening to the sound of the crane, as one steps in)". This is specially for paintings that are of cranes, obviously. But what does it mean? Crane, other than meaning longevity, its Chinese name 鹤 rhymes with "congratulations 贺". Which means listening to sounds of CONGRATULATIONS, as one steps in. Another touch of auspiciousness, with a tinch of poeticness.

Then we have this, "礼敬莲中宝 (paying respect to the treasure of the lotus)". This is a seal of faith. It is a translation from the Buddhist Six-Character Great Bright Mantra 六字大明咒, "ॐ मणिपद्मे हूं (Om Mani Padme Hum)", which is considered as a crystallization of Guan Yin's prayers and blessings. Powerful.

This is also a seal of faith, albeit not as well-known as Guan Yin. It reads "孔雀明王 (Peacock Wisdom King)". Definitely, this is a very apt seal to use for Master Yun's Celebrationism paintings, since most of the subject-matter is the peacock. Master Yun also honors the Peacock Wisdom King as his guardian. Last Chong Yang festival, we invited a sculpture of the Peacock King for blessings. It was also then that we released the Peacock Wisdom King auspicious jadeite series. The thing about the Peacock King is this: it is a very particular Buddhist guardian. Super insistent on the highest standards, and if anything falls below that, the Peacock Wisdom King destroys...pretty much how Master Yun functions.

 

Ok, then, there is this particular seal of pride. This reads "雲龍之寶 (云龙之宝, treasure of Yun Long Zi)". What I know is, Master Yun only uses this seal on works that he reckons them to be of top order...

Now, before you run off to check your paintings to see which they bear, I have one more here for you.

This seal reads "今天和明天 (today, and tomorrow)". This is Master Yun's favorite seal (he told me in person). Master Yun believes, the prosperity and value that we create, shouldn't be just for today, it should be for tomorrow as well. Time is equal -- everyone has 24 hours in a day, but how we make value of the time we have, that's the difference.

I think there are other seals that I did not manage to cover here -- let me know what you find, and I shall decipher them.

-- Kan Ying Loong, Executive Director