PRINTEXHIBITED:
ZENG Fanzhi , Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong,
30 March - 16 April, 2005
PROVENANCE:
Important Private Asian Collection
ZENG Fanzhi , Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong,
30 March - 16 April, 2005
PROVENANCE:
Important Private Asian Collection
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Great Men
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2005 Oil on canvas 70 x 200 cm Signed lower right Zeng Fanzhi in Chinese and English, |
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Estimate
5,000,000 - 8,000,000 19,231,000 - 30,769,000 645,200 - 1,032,300
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Sold Price
6,600,000 25,384,615 851,613
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Catalogue Note:
In his early years Zeng Fanzhi established a unique personal style with hisstraightforward artistic expression and an artist's sharp eye for observation.He precisely grasped the inconspicuous details of life with an artist's instinctin his "Hospital Triptych" series and the "Flesh" series of the 1980s' and 90s',through which he created an astonishing visual impact. Among his works,"Hospital Triptych", the work that made his name, was the most shockingof all. It originated from real life experiences, and the artist completed it byadopting a classic subject in Western religious painting: the triptych used for describing the passion of Christ. He used this Western art form to express the state of existence of the Chinese people and the way they suffer from illnesses.
This work embodies concerns for the lives of the common people and theuniversal sentiment of compassion. In early 1990, Zeng gave up his peaceful life in Wuhan, leaving for Beijing on his own. The interpersonal relationships in the big city and his memory of the police checking his ID gave him the impetus for the celebrated "Mask" series. This series depicts closely the anxieties of making a living in the North and incisively criticizes the hypocrisy of strangers.
The "Mask" series was a huge success but also brought trouble to Zeng. To free himself from the shadow as the "Mask" painter, he decisively laid aside his success in the "Mask" series and plunged himself into the creation of the "Portrait" series. This series continues the criticism built up in the "Mask" series, yet it contains deeper reflections. The later "Portrait" creations develop in two directions: one is the "Great Men" portraits, which depict many great figures and heroes from 1960 and on, while the other is "Landscape".
One technique employed is the drawing of circles on the portraits to create abstraction; while another uses scribbling to reveal the faces of heroes in the long grass or thorns of the Landscape paintings. Whenever portraits of great figures are involved in art, there may also be suspicions of "Chinese symbolism" or "political pop." Zeng, however, interpreted his new art style in a different way. Talking about this series, he said: "No one has ever tried making art by scribbling. Scribbling is a purely abstract act, and the result is the so-called Landscape. This landscape may not be real, because there is never a model landscape in reality. In fact, these are the discoveries and creations of my own mind. They are abstract and thus require viewers to recall their own visual experiences."
The "Great Men" in this auction was created in 2005. Among the scribbled portraits of great figures, this is a rare piece made on a large scale. Five socialist giants—Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Zedong—are serried on the long scroll against a background that appears to be sky. These people were the foundation and spiritual support of the Chinese socialist dream, and these "programmed" portraits were once hung on the walls of every Chinese family's house, where they influenced later generations. With the end of the Cultural Revolution and the implementation of economic reform, and under the influence of Western thought and values, the great men of the socialist spirit have long disappeared. The blue, red and yellow gradient in the background sets off the figures of the great men in the foreground. Like the gradually vanishing clouds and smoke or the sprawling thorns, they are steady and clear; dead yet not vanquished. The strokes are wild and dynamic with strong personal characteristics, full of violence and pain. Zeng sometimes paints with two hands and many brushes simultaneously. Some brushes are used to depict his thoughts and subjects, while others are used to disrupt the picture. This approach brings to fruition the unique style of his Grass series. It also blurs the portraits of these great men, which shatters their iconic status and fills these lifeless, "programmed" images with the breath of humans.
This work embodies concerns for the lives of the common people and theuniversal sentiment of compassion. In early 1990, Zeng gave up his peaceful life in Wuhan, leaving for Beijing on his own. The interpersonal relationships in the big city and his memory of the police checking his ID gave him the impetus for the celebrated "Mask" series. This series depicts closely the anxieties of making a living in the North and incisively criticizes the hypocrisy of strangers.
The "Mask" series was a huge success but also brought trouble to Zeng. To free himself from the shadow as the "Mask" painter, he decisively laid aside his success in the "Mask" series and plunged himself into the creation of the "Portrait" series. This series continues the criticism built up in the "Mask" series, yet it contains deeper reflections. The later "Portrait" creations develop in two directions: one is the "Great Men" portraits, which depict many great figures and heroes from 1960 and on, while the other is "Landscape".
One technique employed is the drawing of circles on the portraits to create abstraction; while another uses scribbling to reveal the faces of heroes in the long grass or thorns of the Landscape paintings. Whenever portraits of great figures are involved in art, there may also be suspicions of "Chinese symbolism" or "political pop." Zeng, however, interpreted his new art style in a different way. Talking about this series, he said: "No one has ever tried making art by scribbling. Scribbling is a purely abstract act, and the result is the so-called Landscape. This landscape may not be real, because there is never a model landscape in reality. In fact, these are the discoveries and creations of my own mind. They are abstract and thus require viewers to recall their own visual experiences."
The "Great Men" in this auction was created in 2005. Among the scribbled portraits of great figures, this is a rare piece made on a large scale. Five socialist giants—Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao Zedong—are serried on the long scroll against a background that appears to be sky. These people were the foundation and spiritual support of the Chinese socialist dream, and these "programmed" portraits were once hung on the walls of every Chinese family's house, where they influenced later generations. With the end of the Cultural Revolution and the implementation of economic reform, and under the influence of Western thought and values, the great men of the socialist spirit have long disappeared. The blue, red and yellow gradient in the background sets off the figures of the great men in the foreground. Like the gradually vanishing clouds and smoke or the sprawling thorns, they are steady and clear; dead yet not vanquished. The strokes are wild and dynamic with strong personal characteristics, full of violence and pain. Zeng sometimes paints with two hands and many brushes simultaneously. Some brushes are used to depict his thoughts and subjects, while others are used to disrupt the picture. This approach brings to fruition the unique style of his Grass series. It also blurs the portraits of these great men, which shatters their iconic status and fills these lifeless, "programmed" images with the breath of humans.