Li Yuan-Chia Archive

  • Reference
    • GB 133 LYC
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1934 - 2002
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • English
  • Physical Description
    • 21 linear metres
  • Location
    • Collection available at John Rylands Library, Deansgate.

Scope and Content

The archive includes:

  • Holograph literary manuscripts tracing every phase in the development of Li’s poetry, from pre-composition (notes, sketches, drawings, notebooks, marginalia, annotations) to production (three-dimensional works, kinetic poems, and artists’ books).
  • Audio-visual material relating to Li’s practice as an artist, including a large quantity of photographs, and Super 8 films.
  • Personal, artistic, literary and business correspondence with other writers, artists, musicians, film-makers, performers, and arts institutions.
  • Li’s engagement diaries and address books; visitor and comments books for the LYC Museum
  • Legal and financial records.
  • Printed material such as annotated books, LYC Museum catalogues, artists’ books, poems and news cuttings.

Administrative / Biographical History

Li Yuan-Chia (1929–1994) [referred to throughout this catalogue as LYC] was one of the most important Chinese artists of the 20th century. He was born into a peasant family in rural Guangxi Province and moved to Taiwan after the Communist victory. He studied art and with a number of fellow artists formed the Ton Fan Group in 1956; they produced the first abstract works in modern China and came to international attention.

In the 1960s Li moved to Italy and then Britain, exhibiting at the Lisson Gallery alongside dom sylvester houédard and David Medulla. While in London he taught himself photography and this medium became integral to his artistic practice.

The LYC Foundation says of Li's work that: Li had a unique vision, a kind of spiritual vision of space, which represented a fusion of the open field of 20th century Western abstract art with the Chinese tradition of summing up all phenomena in a system of simple signs. Words were among these signs; Li incorporated words in his visual art, and also wrote poems. He evolved what he called the ‘cosmic point’, a visual element, sometimes as small as a tiny dot, which defines or stimulates the void. After working in painting, sculpture and installation modes, Li developed photography in a highly personal way.

In 1972 he converted a rundown farmhouse at Banks on Hadrian’s Wall into his own gallery, the LYC Museum, a place of tranquility where art could flourish. Over three hundred artists exhibited there, while Li himself constantly explored the cosmos and the commonplace in painting, sculpture, installation, photography and poetry.

Arrangement

The archive has been arranged as follows:

  • LYC/1 Artworks by LYC (uncatalogued, for access please contact curator)
  • LYC/2 Papers
  • LYC/2/1 Professional
  • LYC/2/2 Personal

Access Information

The collection includes material which is subject to the Data Protection Act 2018. Under the Act 2018 (DPA), The University of Manchester Library (UML) holds the right to process personal data for archiving and research purposes. In accordance with the DPA, UML has made every attempt to ensure that all personal and sensitive personal data has been processed fairly, lawfully and accurately. Users of the archive are expected to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018, and will be required to sign a form acknowledging that they will abide by the requirements of the Act in any further processing of the material by themselves.

Open parts of this collection, and the catalogue descriptions, may contain personal data about living individuals. Some items in this collection may be closed to public inspection in line with the requirements of the DPA. Restrictions/closures of specific items will be indicated in the catalogue.

The collection is open to any accredited reader.

Acquisition Information

The LYC archive was donated to the John Rylands Library by the LYC Foundation in 2008.

Conditions Governing Use

Photocopies and photographic copies of material in the archive can be supplied for private study purposes only, depending on the condition of the documents.

A number of items within the archive remain within copyright under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; it is the responsibility of users to obtain the copyright holder's permission for reproduction of copyright material for purposes other than research or private study.

Prior written permission must be obtained from the Library for publication or reproduction of any material within the archive. Please contact the Head of Special Collections, John Rylands Library, 150 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3EH.

Appraisal Information

No appraisal or destruction of material is planned.

Custodial History

The archive was amassed by Li Yuan-chia over the course of his life and work, and was preserved by members of the LYC Foundation, who removed the collection from the LYC Museum following his death in 1994.

Accruals

Accruals of material from the LYC Foundation are expected.

Related Material

The LYC Foundation

The John Rylands Library also holds the archive of dom sylvester houédard (dsh). The dom sylvester houédard archive contains numerous items relating to LYC, such as correspondence relating to an exhibition of dsh’s work at the LYC Museum and Gallery and the LYC’s publication of a small book of dsh’s reversals, entitled ‘begin again’. The typestract from this publication appears in LYC/2/1/2/31.

Location of Originals

Additional material relating to Li Yuan-chia is held by the LYC Foundation.

Bibliography

  • Hammad Nasar, ‘Cumbrian Cosmopolitanisms’, PMC Notes, Jan. 2018, pp. 4-7
  • Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Viewpoint. A Retrospective of Li Yuan-chia, (Taiwan, 2015)
  • Guy Brett and Nick Sawyer, Li Yuan-chia Tell Me What Is Not Yet Said (London, 2001)
  • Stella Halkyard, ‘Patching up the Cosmos: The World of Li Yuan-chia’, PN Review, 185 (2009), pp. 8–11

Geographical Names