Oil on canvas

330 x 215 cm. 129 7/8 x 84 5/8 in.

Signed in Chinese and dated on bottom right

LITERATURE
2012, Zeng Fanzhi, Gagosian Gallery, London, p.86-91
2013, Zeng Fanzhi, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris, p.161
2013, Cercle Magazine No.3 Winter Issue, Cercle Ltd. Publishing House, London, p.98
EXHIBITED
20 Nov 2012 – 19 Jan 2013, Zeng Fanzhi, Gagosian Gallery, London
18 Oct 2013 – 16 Feb 2014, Zeng Fanzhi, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris
26 Sep – 9 Nov 2017, Arcadia, Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong

PROVENANCE
Gagosian Gallery, London
Important Private Collection, Europe
Important Private Collection, Asia

Note: Two exhibition labels from Gagosian Gallery London and Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville are affixed on the reverse

This work is registered in the Archive of Zeng Fanzhi Arts and Education Foundation, and will be included in the forthcoming Zeng Fanzhi Catalogue Raisonné (Information Provided by Zeng Fanzhi Arts and Education Foundation)

Looking up at the Starry Sky, Confident in His Own Creativity
The First 'Snowscape' Work by Zeng Fanzhi on Auction

“Only when the mind is no hindrance can I paint.”
—— Zeng Fanzhi

In 2013, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris held a large retrospective exhibition for Zeng Fanzhi, the first Chinese artist to hold a solo exhibition in this bastion of Western art in 100 years, an indication of the respect with which Zeng is viewed internationally. In 2019, three of the words top art galleries -- Gagosian Gallery, Hauser & Wirth Gallery and Shanghart Gallery -- made the unprecedented announcement that they would jointly represent the artist, emphasizing the influence of Zeng Fanzhi in the world of modern art. From the surprising Hospital series of works in the early 1990s to the Mask series in 1994, Zeng's richly diverse creations have fascinated the world. On the eve of the New Millennium the artist started to research Chinese art from the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279). These studies influenced Zeng and his works became more abstract in nature, with particular focus on exploring line expressiveness and flow, resulting in the extraordinary Chaotic Brush series. At the current autumn auction Untitled is one of the artist's more mature works and was previously shown as part of the Chaotic Brush series at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

Largest and First 'Snowscape' Work

A review of Zeng Fanzhi's 2004 Chaotic Brush series shows that he has produced only three snowscape works in his career and the auctioned work is both the first and largest such painting. As such, it clearly represents an important change in the artist's mindset at that time. Zeng was born in Wuhan and before moving to Beijing snowy scenes were extremely rare events in his life, a rarity that made such memories all the more precious. In Untitled, the snow reflects the morning glow as it flies through the air and falls to Earth, the vivid snowy white, pink and purple surrealist colors coming from the romantic imaginings of memory. However, this seemingly unified color spectrum contains within it all kinds of changes and subtle layering. For example, although Zeng's focus is the dark night in the moment before dawn, the vigorous and strong chaotic lines span everything the viewer sees and the signs of daybreak in the distance are a secret and unknowable territory. From within the dark deep night a rose red hue radiates like the cheek of a young girl, the smudged purple night ensuring the boundless land exudes hope hidden in the darkness of night. The snowdrops fall to the ground as if in a crescendo, decorating the endless night sky in the moments before dawn and viewers can imagine the multicolored spring sludge that follows. The marks of the oil colors naturally drip and run down, bringing to mind the wild lines of Western abstract master Jackson Pollock, starting with the heart so the lines move unconsciously, retaining the random and independent nature with which they were created. As the oil color drops of flying snow gradually concentrate we can almost discern the movements of the artist completely immersed in the painting process. Zeng's brushwork has great power and range and his use of color is ordered and simple, infusing the work with the aesthetic elements of a Chinese literati painter, so viewers are instantly able to appreciate its deep meaning.

A Decade of 'Chaotic Strokes,' Painting Transcendent Scenes

'Yi' style abstract brush strokes speak to the free spirit in the human heart
—— Ni Yunlin (1301-1374), Yuan Dynasty painter and calligrapher

In the decade from the Chaotic Brush series in 2002 to Untitled in 2012, Zeng Fanzhi was already a renowned artist. The initial inspiration for the series came from a garden attached to the artist' studio, a place that gradually became somewhere Zeng went to realize his landscape ideas. In this period, he researched classical garden art and as a result got closer to the various forms and colors of traditional Chinese culture. Through the honing and molding of branches the artist gradually attained perfection and this “garden aesthetic” was reflected in his work as he started to express a traditional Chinese aesthetic view. Although Untitled is a chaotic brushwork painting, on closer inspection there is a hidden order and rhythm to the confused lines, and we can also make out the artistic conception of a Chinese garden. In terms of brushwork Zeng's approach to painting involves not only the movement of the wrist and arm, but the whole body. Based on photographs of the studio it is clear that when Zeng Fanzhi creates art he tends to use a flat tip brush to express horizontal and angular lines or to define the outline of the sky and earth. Thereafter, he employs a finer painting brush for overlapping horizontal and vertical lines, a process akin to the boundless stretching nature of cursive lines. In Untitled, the calligraphic-like lines go from dense and concentrated to sparse, scattered and hidden in the night sky. The branches and old rattan are similar to the pictorial nature of Song Dynasty Cold Forest Old Trees, though the more relaxed structure represents a movement away from the pressure of the twisted roots and gnarled branches in earlier Chaotic Brush series works. The ethereal and transcendent spirit of the painting is imbued with vibrant desire.

Tang and Song Landscapes, Exuding Self Confidence

In Untitled, the artist extends the concept of Chinese painting. Sui and Tang painting were influenced by popular murals at the time and attached great importance to the narrative nature of a work, as well as the use of color and lines to convey weight or volume. In contrast, Song Dynasty painting focused more on the ethereal beauty of a landscape and artistic conceptualization. Untitled is a combination of these two approaches, expressing the layering of distance and landscape depth within a vertical composition. For Example, in Facing the Moon by Song Dynasty artist Ma Yuan (1160-1225) the rising mist shrouds a cliff between two mountain peaks, one large one small, the “Yi” style abstract brushstrokes reflecting the same pink sunset glow as in Untitled; Moreover, Zeng's densely overlapping “chaotic strokes” can also be compared to Sailing Boats and a Riverside Mansion by Tang Dynasty painter Li Sixun (651-716). The closer scenery at the bottom of the painting is more detailed and the rattan is increasingly ethereal as it climbs upwards, creating a contrast between heaven and earth, ethereal and corporeal. In Untitled Zeng Fanzhi not only salutes the ingenious use of “cursive brushwork” by ancient artists, he also displays confidence in his own instinct and experience with oil colors, showcasing confidence and pride in his own artistic journey.

From Europe to Asia - Recorded Provenance

Shortly after Untitled was completed in 2012 it was part of the artist's first solo exhibition at the Gagosian Gallery in London, where it was collected by renowned European art collectors Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schull, though it was loaned back and shown as part of a major exhibition by Zeng at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris the following year. The Schulls are not only successful bankers and lawyers they are also important sponsors of Modern Art Oxford, the Contemporary Art Society and Southbank Art Center, London, and known for their impeccable taste in art circles across Europe, which speaks to the importance of the auctioned work. From London to Paris and Hong Kong, Untitled is a testament to a creative turning point in the work of Zeng Fanzhi, but it also reflects a more mature mindset in which the artist is more inward looking and focused on an inner dialogue. As we look at the painting, a corner of the soul makes its presence felt with the glow of early morning light, slowly lighting up the long night and the path traveled by the artist. As if walking down a pathway and looking up at the star-filled sky, Zeng takes off his “mask” and says goodbye to the past, as he walks home one snowy night.

Price estimate:
HKD: 5,800,000 – 8,000,000
USD: 748,400 – 1,032,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 9,235,000