Yan Pei-Ming (b.1960) Self Portrait as a Skull (Autoportrait en crâne)

(Triptych), oil on canvas, 2006, 150 x 150 cm. each - Est.: HK$2.5-3.5 million

Notes : Death has been a subject matter that has intrigued Yan Pei-Ming in recent years, particularly since his father passed away. This powerful triptych, drenched in a sanguinary red, is composed with a ponderous hand charged with the fear of death. The work succeeds in revealing the artist's fear of and insights on death; the skulls are symbolic of the artist's direct confrontation, as a result of a realization that evasion is impossible

Sotheby's Hong Kong. Contemporary Asian Art – 6 October 2009. photo courtesy Sotheby's www.sothebys.com