- 91
Zhang Enli
Estimate
2,500,000 - 2,800,000 RMB
bidding is closed
Description
- Zhang Enli
- Smoker
- oil on canvas
initialed and dated 97, framed
Provenance
ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
Private Collection, China
Private Collection, China
Exhibited
China, Shanghai, ShanghART Gallery, Dance-Zhang Enli, 2000
Condition
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
A native of northeastern China, Zhang Enli has lived in Shanghai since the 1980s, and has observed the lives of the city's various inhabitants with a detached attitude. Having achieved the success and renown desired by every artist, he remains aloof from the world and quietly focuses on his own artistic explorations.
Zhang's career can be divided into two periods; between 1992 and 2000 his paintings mostly depicted real people and things against gloomy backgrounds with bold and energetic brushwork and saturated colours. From 2000 to the present, he has for the most part been creating elegant still-lifes in an understated style and soothing colours. Smoker from 1997 is a classic example of his early period.
In 1997 Zhang Enli signed a contract with the ShangART Gallery. Although he had already begun to sell paintings, art was still at the margins of society and the young Zhang was preoccupied with the livelihoods and psychologies of the middle and lower classes. With his Northern rusticity and passion Zhang chose to paint in the expressionist manner. Using bold and unrefined lines, heavy impasto, and garish colours he exaggerated muscular tension and distorted the human body to convey his own personality and internal turmoil. This is clearly seen in Smoker. Here he borrows the monochromatic background that defines the composition and perspective of Manet's Little Flauntist. Even his subject's dress is similar to the Flauntist's: the tidy shirt and pants with well-polished leather shoes that recall an office clerk. His eyes are trained on the cigarette's flame, the figure's only source of light and warmth in the dark night. The stresses of the day have temporarily subsided and yet seem poised to surge forth like the endless night. The painting's cold and gloomy palette is relieved only by the red of the figure's hands and face, a technique that is reminiscent of Caravaggio.
Zhang's career can be divided into two periods; between 1992 and 2000 his paintings mostly depicted real people and things against gloomy backgrounds with bold and energetic brushwork and saturated colours. From 2000 to the present, he has for the most part been creating elegant still-lifes in an understated style and soothing colours. Smoker from 1997 is a classic example of his early period.
In 1997 Zhang Enli signed a contract with the ShangART Gallery. Although he had already begun to sell paintings, art was still at the margins of society and the young Zhang was preoccupied with the livelihoods and psychologies of the middle and lower classes. With his Northern rusticity and passion Zhang chose to paint in the expressionist manner. Using bold and unrefined lines, heavy impasto, and garish colours he exaggerated muscular tension and distorted the human body to convey his own personality and internal turmoil. This is clearly seen in Smoker. Here he borrows the monochromatic background that defines the composition and perspective of Manet's Little Flauntist. Even his subject's dress is similar to the Flauntist's: the tidy shirt and pants with well-polished leather shoes that recall an office clerk. His eyes are trained on the cigarette's flame, the figure's only source of light and warmth in the dark night. The stresses of the day have temporarily subsided and yet seem poised to surge forth like the endless night. The painting's cold and gloomy palette is relieved only by the red of the figure's hands and face, a technique that is reminiscent of Caravaggio.