Huai-Kuei Song Untitled 4, 1970 USD 75,001 - 100,000 Goat wool Edition Unique 153.0 x 153.0 x 5.0 （厘米） 60.2 x 60.2 x 2.0 （吋） The discovery of an artist's indelible, epic, perhaps cinema-worthy, legacy can leave us wondering how it is that we did not know their work before – even more so when that legacy involves two artists and an enduring romance. Such is the story of the visionary textile artists Maryn Varbanov (1932-1989) and his wife and lifelong collaborator Song Huai-Kuei (1937-2006), also known as Madame Song. Both Varbanov and Song recognized the potential for a radical re-examination of the weaving tradition. In 1958, the couple uprooted and left Beijing by train, moving with their 2-year-old daughter to the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. Song created her famous 'Butterfly' series of works during that time, which was inspired by 'The Butterfly Dream' by Zhuangzi, a classical Chinese poem about spiritual transformation and reality versus illusion, relief-like forms made from a range of fibers such as hemp and sisal are notably explicit in their suggestion of female genitalia. In 2023, Song's Butterfly Series realized a comprehensive and magnificent exhibition at BANK Gallery in Shanghai. Varbanov and Song were invited to participate in major group exhibitions throughout Europe, racking up prestigious awards and invitations to such events as the 1969 Biennale internationale de la tapisserie, Lausanne. What emerged between both artists was a working relationship in which Varbanov became the principle technical engineer and fabricator of nearly all the works they created, while Song was more conceptually minded, creating preliminary designs and drawings for works in advance of their realization. The couple's daughter, Boryana, likens their relationship to that of Christo and Jeanne-Claude: 'My mother somehow inspired ideas which my father then executed and realized based on her designs and renderings.' Further groundbreaking events for the pair would arrive throughout the 1970s. A major solo exhibition of Varbanov's work in Sofia led to a residency invitation in Paris at the Cité Internationale des Arts. The family relocated to Paris in 1975, where they lived for the next 8 years. In 1979, they held an important show at the Grand Palais and the following year, they staged another at the FIAC art fair. It was at FIAC that the couple were introduced to the international fashion mogul Pierre Cardin, who immediately became a loyal patron and collector of their work. At the time, Deng Xiaoping's 'open door' policy was just beginning and Cardin was eager to bring his brand to the Chinese market. Song recognized Cardin's vision, perhaps seeing it as a means toward cultural and economic renewal, and his entry into the artists' lives marked a pivotal turn for the couple. Agreeing to help Cardin and his enterprise, Varbanov and Song moved back to Beijing in the winter of 1980, and Song worked endlessly to establish Cardin's global brand. She organized runway shows, and recruited and trained women to serve as models. She also designed and managed Cardin's elegant restaurant Maxim's de Paris à Pékin, which opened in downtown Beijing in 1983 and became the go-to place for the international jet-set in China. Inspiring generations of Chinese artists, designers, producers, and filmmakers, Varbanov and Song were seminal figures of their time. Currently the subject of a major exhibition at Hong Kong's M+ museum, Song became something of a cultural bellwether and ambassador. She appeared as Empress Dowager Longyu in Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 film The Last Emperor, supported the production of runway shows for Gianfranco Ferré and Valentino at the first Chinese International Clothing and Accessories Fair in 1993, and organized the touring exhibition 'Five Dynasties', which covered the history of Chinese fashion from the Tang to the Qing dynasties. (Original article from ArtBasel)