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Lot Essay
From the earliest stages of his career?, ?Zeng Fanzhi's paintings have been marked by their emotional directness?, ?the artist's intuitive psychological sense?, ?and his carefully calibrated expressionistic technique?. ?His earliest? ?Hospital? ?and? ?Meat? ?series?, ?painted in the early 1990s while the artist was still in provincial Wuhan completing a degree in painting?, ?displayed his inherent humanism and sympathy with the daily existence of those around him?. ?Moving to the more cosmopolitan Beijing in the early 1990s?, ?Zeng's art displayed an immediate shift?, ?responding to his immersion in a more superficial environment?, ?his seminal? ?Mask? ?series displaying the tensions between the artist's prevalent existential concerns and an ironic treatment over the pomposity and posturing inherent to his new contemporary urban life?. ?Throughout?, ?Zeng's expressionistic techniques run counter to such techniques?' ?conventional usage?. ?That is?, ?Zeng's representation of raw?, ?exposed flesh or awkwardly over-sized hands is not an attempt? ?at pure emotional expression?, ?but instead a play against the superficially composed appearances of his subjects?, ?an ironic treatment of emotional performance underlining its masking of the distress and alienation of the individual?. ?
This stylisation of emotion becomes more pronounced as Zeng's works evolved into his so-called? "?behind the Mask?" ?paintings of the early 2000s?. ?Late-Mask works became increasingly bold in palette?, ?with figures in pastel yellow or pink suits before candy-coloured backdrops?. ?With the portraits that followed?, ?Zeng made a complete about-face?, ?stripping his compositions of inessential elements or fanciful colour combinations and refocusing on the expressivity of his technique and conveying subtle shifts in psychological themes?. ?In the monumental? ?Portrait? (?Lot 54?) ?featured here in the Evening sale?, ?Zeng offers the vision of a serenely composed?, ?effortlessly elegant young man?. ?He confronts the viewer directly with an apparent composure that is complicated by Zeng's selective details and painterly technique?.?? ?
The young man stands with his shoulders back?, ?his gaze raised?, ?his mouth set in an expression as restrained and ambiguous as the? ?Mona Lisa's?. ?His head is slightly turned?; ?though he is a study in self-possession?, ?this subtle turn suggests an aloof and slightly withholding character?. ?He stands before an empty background?, ?the legs of his pressed trousers dissolving into pools of paint? ?and immateriality?, ?further undermining the conviction and physicality of the character's pose?. ?His isolation is reminiscent of? ?Francis Bacon's harrowing images of modern man? (?Fig?. ?1?). ?Zeng's own existential interests are similar to Bacon's?, ?but they are located in distinctly different cultural?, ?historical and aesthetic concerns?. ?Zeng's figure is dressed in the standard dress of the contemporary cosmopolitan man?, ?tailored dark slacks and a fitted?, ?collared dress shirt?. ?The clothing of Zeng's masked figure was often deliberately pretentious and brightly coloured?, ?ironically suggesting the awkward adoption of western consumer tastes into Chinese life and?, ?more broadly?, ?the strain of the massive social shifts engendered by the transition to a market economy?. ?Here only the flamboyantly flared cuffs mark the aspirational quality of the figure?. ?To this costume?, ?Zeng adds a red scarf?. ?The red scarf has had multiple associations for Zeng?. ?It is a reminder of China's recent past and of the Cultural Revolution in particular?. ?The red scarf also served as an emblem of social acceptance at the height of the communist period?. ?The significance of owning this badge of membership in a society governed by rigid conformity was immeasurable?. ?Zeng was not granted a red neckerchief? ?as a child?; ?an action which has clearly had an impact on his adult psyche as a large number of his subjects throughout the? ?Mask? ?series bear this symbol of belonging? (?Fig?. ?2?). ?In other works?, ?the red scarf might highlight the false camaraderie of these newly minted cosmopolitans?. ?Its inclusion here only seems to serve as an ironic reminder of the figure's isolation?, ?appearing as an? ?accessory?, ?an artifact of social belonging?.?
Consistent with Zeng's earliest works is his expressionistic treatment of hands?, ?features and flesh?. ?Here one of the hands is loosely cocked with a thumb hooked in the trouser pocket?; ?the other rests self-consciously against his thigh?. ?While he strikes a coolly detached pose?, ?his hands are executed in raw?, ?meaty reds?; ?the slightest suggestion of a background?, ?extending from the hands?, ?further suggests a barely suppressed agitation?. ?The figure's head?, ?too?, ?is slightly out of proportion?, ?his brow furrowed and? ?flesh raw with distress?, ?the paint of his features streaming upwards?, ?further suggesting the unsettled emotional state of the figure?. ?The eyes?, ?in particular?, ?though highly defined?, ?lack focus or direction?. ?With this work?, ?the unmasked figure appears naturalised into his new role as a modern day flaneur?. ?But with the inclusion of the scarf?, ?and the features at last revealed?, ?it is? ?clear that the modern self is still haunted by loneliness and distress?.?
As Britta Erickson says?, ?the arc of Zeng's career follows the personal and psychological challenges facing his generation in the? ?post-Mao years of reform?, ?modernisation?, ?and consumerism?. "?If we consider Zeng Fanzhi's developing oeuvre as reflective of a psychological journey?, ?where does that journey lead?? ?Ten years ago the protagonists in his paintings were helpless victims inhabiting an illogical world?. ?Next?, ?they donned masks to participate in a realm of urban flaneurs sharing superficial relationships?. ?Now the masks are off and the protagonists are utterly alone?, ?stripped to raw flesh and dissolving?. ?Having abandoned pretense?, ?can they now rebuild a sense of self??" (?Britta Erickson?, ?Raw Beneath the Mask?, ?Yinghuazhi?, ?2001?).?
This stylisation of emotion becomes more pronounced as Zeng's works evolved into his so-called? "?behind the Mask?" ?paintings of the early 2000s?. ?Late-Mask works became increasingly bold in palette?, ?with figures in pastel yellow or pink suits before candy-coloured backdrops?. ?With the portraits that followed?, ?Zeng made a complete about-face?, ?stripping his compositions of inessential elements or fanciful colour combinations and refocusing on the expressivity of his technique and conveying subtle shifts in psychological themes?. ?In the monumental? ?Portrait? (?Lot 54?) ?featured here in the Evening sale?, ?Zeng offers the vision of a serenely composed?, ?effortlessly elegant young man?. ?He confronts the viewer directly with an apparent composure that is complicated by Zeng's selective details and painterly technique?.?? ?
The young man stands with his shoulders back?, ?his gaze raised?, ?his mouth set in an expression as restrained and ambiguous as the? ?Mona Lisa's?. ?His head is slightly turned?; ?though he is a study in self-possession?, ?this subtle turn suggests an aloof and slightly withholding character?. ?He stands before an empty background?, ?the legs of his pressed trousers dissolving into pools of paint? ?and immateriality?, ?further undermining the conviction and physicality of the character's pose?. ?His isolation is reminiscent of? ?Francis Bacon's harrowing images of modern man? (?Fig?. ?1?). ?Zeng's own existential interests are similar to Bacon's?, ?but they are located in distinctly different cultural?, ?historical and aesthetic concerns?. ?Zeng's figure is dressed in the standard dress of the contemporary cosmopolitan man?, ?tailored dark slacks and a fitted?, ?collared dress shirt?. ?The clothing of Zeng's masked figure was often deliberately pretentious and brightly coloured?, ?ironically suggesting the awkward adoption of western consumer tastes into Chinese life and?, ?more broadly?, ?the strain of the massive social shifts engendered by the transition to a market economy?. ?Here only the flamboyantly flared cuffs mark the aspirational quality of the figure?. ?To this costume?, ?Zeng adds a red scarf?. ?The red scarf has had multiple associations for Zeng?. ?It is a reminder of China's recent past and of the Cultural Revolution in particular?. ?The red scarf also served as an emblem of social acceptance at the height of the communist period?. ?The significance of owning this badge of membership in a society governed by rigid conformity was immeasurable?. ?Zeng was not granted a red neckerchief? ?as a child?; ?an action which has clearly had an impact on his adult psyche as a large number of his subjects throughout the? ?Mask? ?series bear this symbol of belonging? (?Fig?. ?2?). ?In other works?, ?the red scarf might highlight the false camaraderie of these newly minted cosmopolitans?. ?Its inclusion here only seems to serve as an ironic reminder of the figure's isolation?, ?appearing as an? ?accessory?, ?an artifact of social belonging?.?
Consistent with Zeng's earliest works is his expressionistic treatment of hands?, ?features and flesh?. ?Here one of the hands is loosely cocked with a thumb hooked in the trouser pocket?; ?the other rests self-consciously against his thigh?. ?While he strikes a coolly detached pose?, ?his hands are executed in raw?, ?meaty reds?; ?the slightest suggestion of a background?, ?extending from the hands?, ?further suggests a barely suppressed agitation?. ?The figure's head?, ?too?, ?is slightly out of proportion?, ?his brow furrowed and? ?flesh raw with distress?, ?the paint of his features streaming upwards?, ?further suggesting the unsettled emotional state of the figure?. ?The eyes?, ?in particular?, ?though highly defined?, ?lack focus or direction?. ?With this work?, ?the unmasked figure appears naturalised into his new role as a modern day flaneur?. ?But with the inclusion of the scarf?, ?and the features at last revealed?, ?it is? ?clear that the modern self is still haunted by loneliness and distress?.?
As Britta Erickson says?, ?the arc of Zeng's career follows the personal and psychological challenges facing his generation in the? ?post-Mao years of reform?, ?modernisation?, ?and consumerism?. "?If we consider Zeng Fanzhi's developing oeuvre as reflective of a psychological journey?, ?where does that journey lead?? ?Ten years ago the protagonists in his paintings were helpless victims inhabiting an illogical world?. ?Next?, ?they donned masks to participate in a realm of urban flaneurs sharing superficial relationships?. ?Now the masks are off and the protagonists are utterly alone?, ?stripped to raw flesh and dissolving?. ?Having abandoned pretense?, ?can they now rebuild a sense of self??" (?Britta Erickson?, ?Raw Beneath the Mask?, ?Yinghuazhi?, ?2001?).?