LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Oil on canvas

Measurements:

23.62 in. (60.00 cm.) (height) by 31.50 in. (80.00 cm.) (width)

Markings:

Signed in Chinese and Pinyin on bottom centre

Provenance:

PROVENANCEAcquired directly from the artistPrivate Collection, AsiaGrand Passion behind the HistoryZhao Gang Spring FestivalIn Art and China after 1989： Theater of the World, a major exhibition of Chinese contemporary art elaborately organized in 2017 by the Guggenheim Museum for the first time, Zhao Gang’s work was juxtaposed with other milestone works in the history of Chinese contemporary art, which indicated that he is an influential artist to be reckoned with in the international art scene. Zhao’s oeuvre is more “destructive” in nature than those of his coevals. He espouses the Dadaist idea of the early 20th century, namely opposing all existing forms, thereby presenting his thinking about the language of contemporary Chinese painting. His work Spring Festival features the historic image of Mao Zedong, leading the viewers to relive the moment when Mao ascended the Tiananmen Tower and proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China. On the left-hand side of the composition is the inscription recording the comradeship between the Mao and Yang families. Mao married Yang Kaihui in 1920. They had three children and lived with Yang’s mother. After Yang’s heroic sacrifice for her husband’s communist cause in 1930, her three children were raised by their grandmother. According to the documents, Mao once told his son Mao Anying during the Chinese New Year of 1950： “Your grandmother was a virtuous woman who fully supported the cause that your mother and I fought for. I missed her very much.” Zhao titled this piece of work Spring Festival in English when he was creating it abroad, intending to connect the occasion of family reunion during the Chinese New Year with the historic moment of the founding of a country. The artist invoked the metaphor of this connection to imply that each successful revolution or enterprise was propped up by noble sacrifice and remarkable endurance.