Zeng Fanzhi

ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi, China Contemporary Painting, Bologna 2005, p. 225, illustrated in colour

Colour: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is warmer and richer in the original. Condition: This work is in very good condition. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultra-violet light.
"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.
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Zeng Fanzhi's Portrait No. 12 of 2004 is a consummate example of the artist's celebrated Wild Strokes series, where space and depth are created with the same deft brushwork traditionally employed for his archetypal Hospital and Mask series. In the mid-2000s, Zeng Fanzhi reinvented his style partly as a result of an injury to his right hand. Holding one or two brushes in his left hand, he started experimenting with seemingly chaotic strokes, creating and destroying his images at the same time. In Portrait No.12 the sitter's features are subtly hidden behind a thin veil of expressive brushstrokes. The vigorous, dynamic movement of these strokes act as a protective barrier between the observer and the observed, symbolising a constant state of fluidity and allegorical flexibility, while the delicacy of these alludes to the fragility of that protection. This protective layer analogous to those worn by the figures in his earlier Mask series similarly serves to ossify the sitter's expressions and features enabling the image to emerge beyond the slashes of paint. In the present work, the sitter stares with wide eyes and an intense introspection, seemingly fearful and tense as though a victim of his role. Zeng Fanzhi's pictures are about his own reach, leading the viewer on a journey of the imagination by representing esoteric cultural references that are within him, deftly communicating poetry, mythology, history and modernity. The surface of Zeng Fanzhi's Portrait No. 12 offers us content that is rich and exciting, linked with history, emotions and memories yet simultaneously anecdotal and didactic.