Oil on canvas

160 x 200 cm. 63 x 78 3/4 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on lower right

Provenance：
Anon. Sale， Sotheby’s Hong Kong， 7 April 2007， Lot 157；
Anon. Sale， Ravenel Hong Kong， 30 May 2011， Lot 46；
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner.

Note：
This work is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity with a signature of the artist.

■ Personal Narrative and Collective Memory
Bloodline： Big Family Series by Zhang Xiaogang
A Map of Sense in a Maze of Memory
The development of Zhang Xiaogang’s artistic expression is a miniature of China’s evolving contemporary art over the past 20 years. He renders the spirit of the time of the “common world” in a self-narrative， artistic language， thus foregrounding the revolutionary force of Chinese contemporary art.
During the critical period when Chinese art moved from realism to modernism， Zhang turned to modernism and expressionism， focusing on the communication of personal emotions， using visuals to ’express the sensitivity the human psyche has for nature， thus embodying the true sense of the realist revolution’. Around the time of the “85 New Wave”， Zhang founded the New Figurative Art Group with Mao Xuhui， Ye Yongqing and others. He became a forerunner of Chinese surrealism following his own successful transition from expressionism. When “political pop” and “cynical realism” prevailed in the art scene in the 1990s， he also began to engage in contemporary issues via a visual means that conveyed concepts， seeking a new way of expression from concepts， rationality and signs and symbols. With the arrival of the Big Family series in 1994， sense and calmness ousted the last bit of his emotive style， marking the real maturity of his artistic expression.
“A person can very easily have the right idea， but choose the wrong means to express it. Or he can have the right means， but lack a clear idea. ”By this， Eduardo Paolozzi implied that both creative power and artistry are essential and the inevitable result of an artist’s stylistic evolution. With his natural gifts and intellect， Zhang eventually succeeded in establishing his own artistic style with the Big Family series， and continues to raise his style to new heights.
A Monologue on Family Memory
‘I gradually realised that， aside from their historical context， these standardised “family portraits” touched me precisely because of their sense of being “retouched” to fit certain standard modes. This “retouching” reflected the aesthetic qualities long-prized in Chinese folk culture.’
The way a common Chinese family takes a ‘family group’ photograph reflects the legacy of Confucian ethics. Touched by the technique of formal retouching， typical upright poses of the figures， the rigid social order in the old photos， Zhang incorporates the standardised sense of retouching and ‘poetic’ gender-neutral beauty into his way of characterisation， revealing the aesthetic qualities long-prized in Chinese folk culture. In these works， supposedly intimate family icons are standardised and ideologised； ‘blood relations’ signify all connections the modern man encounters in life， revealing the impact the traditional Chinese idea of communal life has on present minds.
‘Through photographs， each family constructs a portrait-chronicle of itself，’ said American art critic Susan Sontag. Photos symbolically create aggregation and separation of a kinship. Figures wearing sweaters and shirts are key manifestations of Confucian clan traditions and the fashion of the Mao era. As Lu Peng said： ‘These photos from the 40s to early 70s carry a direct emotional and historical relatedness with the living Chinese—the parents and children. They even witnessed the historic moments shoulder by shoulder.’ The series conveys the Chinese philosophy ‘happy is he who is content’ despite ordeals in one’s fate and political situation. And the “distracted” gazes suggest a connection to the “dreamlike” expression in past works， a representation of the“dreams” in the memory of the times with an intuitive “reality”.
Cultural Imprint of the Collective Consciousness
Zhang’s “Family” series represents an in-depth discussion of the relationship between family and individual. The artist’s wisdom shone through in the course of a cross-cultural language transfer. The series has garnered multiple international awards and become an important landmark in the history of Chinese contemporary art.
The present artwork is an iconic piece created in 2006 during the artist’s maturity stage. A thread in red showing influences from Frida Kahlo traverses between the figures and beyond the frame， drawing attention to the notion of blood relation. The tight knot between the images is undermined by the uncertain and deformed line. The dreamlike re-presentation evokes the impression of Rene Magritte’s poetic style.
The solemn expressions of the figures suggest post-traumatic apathy. The epicanthic fold is used to highlight the Chinese identity. The light processing involved in the yellow patches on the faces has been praised as a singular technique that accentuates absurdity and psychological characteristics， and contributing to the most subtle and intriguing aesthetic effects in Zhang’s works.
The yellow patches may also be regarded as individual symbols that one distinguishes oneself from the others and a means to explore the relationsips the artist shares with oneself， the family， country or has in history. The red scarf and the uniform bring out the identifies of the figures as well as constraints and oppression an era imposes on the individuals through clothing. The presence of only two generations reflects the country’s sustainable productivity and combat.
The techniques employed in this series reflect the local interpretation of Western realism in the early Qing dynasty. The style not only lends to the images a unique historical sense， but also serves to satirise and mock certain specific ideologies. The series is inspired by charcoal portrait sketching prevalent throughout China. The direct and illusive visual language has urged Zhang to switch from enigmatic mannerism and pompous romanticism to a simple and self-narrative language to depict his memory of the time.
The linguistic structure of the ‘Big Family’ series is a blend of Western surrealism and metaphysical painting， and re-creativity in a local context. It demonstrates a possibility in contemporary art under the impact of Western styles. The series not only marks the maturity of both Zhang’s artistic style and Chinese contemporary art： when expressing contemporary Chinese sentiments in a Western language， he has successfully turned the discourse into a personal narrative， and depicted trauma and memory in an independent artistic language， leaving a lasting cultural imprint in the contemporary Chinese collective consciousness.

Price estimate:
HKD： 9,000,000 - 12,000,000
USD： 1,158,300 - 1,544,400

Auction Result:
HKD: 10,500,000