Oil on canvas

114 x 177 cm. 44 7/8 x 69 5/8 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated 1997,9 on lower left；stamped with Ullens' collection seal on the reverse
Literature：Contemporary Art Centre of Macau,Macau,China,Futuroe Chinese Contemporary Art,2000,p. 48.
Christine Buci-Glucksnabb ed.,Skira Publishing,France,Modernités Chinoises,2003,p. 102.
Culturgest Gallery,Lisbon,Portugal,Contemporary Chinese Art,Subversion and Poetry,2003,p. 69.
UCCA,Beijing,China,Wang Xingwei,2013,p. 88.
Exhibited：Contemporary Art Centre of Macau,Macau,China,Futuroe Chinese Contemporary Art,2000
Culturgest Galleries 1 and 2,Lisbon,Portugal,Contemporary Chinese Art,Subversion and Poetry,2003
UCCA,Beijing,China,Solo Exhibition of Wang Xingwei,
19 May - 18 August 2013
Provenance：Hanart TZ Gallery,Hong Kong；The Ullens Collection - The Nascence of Avant Garde China Evening Sale,Sotheby’s HK,3 April 2011,Lot 894；Acquired from the above sale by the present owner.

Wang Xingwei
“I force myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.”
－Marcel Duchamp
Wang Xingwei – Challenging and Transcending from Constant Questioning
Regarded as one of China’s most influential and versatile contemporary artists,Wang Xingwei represents the generation of artists that were born in the 1960-70s,and had major artistic developments in the early 1990s. Raised in the 1980s,Wang grew up in an era where young people were immensely curious about Western culture and foreign lifestyles. Having witnessed the uprising of the art pioneers,Wang evaluated his position in the society. Questions such as：What is Chinese Contemporary art？How do you define the term contemporary？How do you create meaning in art？Wang has engaged in conscientious self-analysis for the past 20 years. Wang’s art is highly narrative and fable-like containing bizarre yet humourous elements. They can be disorienting with no logic of time and space. Wang uses art to confront society；he constantly questions and challenges how one might easily conform to the majority and naturally gravitate towards the cultural constraints. Therefore,he disassembled different art forms from histories to remind the viewers to break free from comfort zone.
Duchamp：The King of Golden Touch,The Magician Who Overthrew Universal Truth
Calvin Tomkins,an American author who wrote,Duchamp：A Biography,described Marcel Duchamp as a magician who played around with the concept of Contemporary art,he had overthrown the long-held universal truth,allowed the viewers to question about what art should be and how it should be made. Duchamp’s art never attempted to bring visual satisfaction to the viewers；instead,he cleverly subverted traditional modes of painting by saying,“Art should never be a purely ‘retinal’ object intended to please the eyes.” He stressed on the importance of the character of a work of art and the artistic intention behind it. This has greatly affected the 20th century art and artists radically,including a group of Chinese Contemporary artists and introduced a new thinking model.
Duchamp’s provocative creation of the “readymade” in his legendary career has detached and surpassed the traditional methods of art expression at the time. His creations of Bicycle Wheel and Bottle Rack painted in 1913 and 1914 were his first readymades. His Fountain,made in 1917,is a readymade（porcelain urinal）signed with his signature “R. Mutt”. It is regarded the most iconic artwork of the 20th century and is widely recognized as the trademark piece of the New York Dadaism.
The Pinnacle Stage in the Early Nineties：Theatrical Tension,Epic Dimensions
In the mid-1990s,Wang created a series of works related to art history,and this was regarded as a critical period where his aesthetic language has matured. While his works created before 1994 focused more on his self-reflection towards his personal way of living,his works from mid-1990s and onwards involve virtual scenes and role-plays. Most importantly,it transformed Chinese art tremendously in the scope of Western art system. His satire on the values of Chinese contemporary art systems are humorous yet profound. Art history,social events and scenes from theatrical plays were extensively used during the development of this series,displaying a rich content of theatrical tension. Midas is an exceptional piece of work from this period. It is comical yet subversive；the “satirical”,“contradictory” and “anti-art” elements in Wang’s works are all inspired by Duchamp. Wang paid homage to his ideas by incorporating his spirit into—All Happy Families are Similar No.1 and Poor Old Hamilton. In Midas,this is the first time Wang employed a classical painting technique consistently to compose the entire picture. Incorporating Greek mythology and the spiritual leader of Dadaism—Duchamp,Wang opened a dialogue that transcend in time and space.
Debate of the Century：Tracing Back the Origins of Art,Evaluating the Core Elements
In Midas,Wang set up a dark stage scene,the red velvet curtain on the left implies the theatrical play has begun. Duchamp,in his middle age,sits on a high back chair,resting his chin on his left hand posed like the “Thinker”. Gazing past his art works including the bottle rack and the urinal in front of him,Duchamp fixes his focal point from a distance,as if he is contemplating his next move on the chessboard. He places his right hand on the head of a golden statue of a little boy,with his right foot stepping on a rock. This symbolises the famous King Midas in Greek mythology for his power to turn everything he touched into gold. Duchamp,a revolutionist of the art history,once stated that an ordinary object from everyday could be seen as a work of art. It raises the question：“Can artists have the power to reform aesthetic concepts like King Midas with his golden touch？Or,once the artist has successfully overthrown the concept,has it been what you anticipated at the beginning？Wang uses this pun to bring out sharp questions directed towards himself as well as the viewers,implicitly upholding the core values of his paintings.
Midas exhibited an open composition；Wang’s solid painting skills and his use of rich imagery is mysterious. This painting also raises fundamental issues faced by artists of this generation,as well as Wang’s emphasis on the “meaning and value” of art,poses a speculative philosophy. This work was part of the Ullen Collection,and was shown in important exhibitions of Chinese contemporary art until it was acquired by the current collector in Sotheby’s “The Ullens Collection - The Nascence of Avant Garde China” in 2011. This work was an exhibition highlight in Wang’s solo exhibition presented by the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing back in 2013.

Price estimate:
HKD：2,000,000 - 3,000,000
USD：258,100 - 387,100

Auction Result:
HKD:4,248,000