Yan Pei-Ming (B.1960 ), Portrait of Mao.  Photo Sotheby"s

signed, titled, dated Le 1.9 –10.9.90 and inscribed Réalisé à Clisson on the reverse; oil on canvas; 130 by 180cm.; 51 1/8 by 70 7/8 in. Executed in 1990. Estimate 180,000-250,000 GBP - Unsold

PROVENANCE: Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels

Private Collection, Belgium

Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

NOTE: Yan Pei Ming portrays both a memory and the present, playing with the boundaries of resemblance, painting figures that are at a certain distance from the original but which are still close enough to be recognizable.

Mao painted in black and white, which for the Chinese represent the colours of death and mourning, is filled with the energy and strong gaze of this famous figurehead. Influenced by the fluid paint handling of De Kooning, Yan Pei Ming never stopped depicting portraits of Mao Ze Dong. Starting in his interschool years when he lived in Shanghai and worked as a propaganda artist, he painted vast murals of Chairman Mao in schools and factories. These were always in red, a good, positive colour. Continuing to explore this subject matter, repeatedly trying new things with his portrait and interpreting this most famous of faces. Yan Pei Ming's portraits of Mao are found to be oddly exalting, dynamic, heroic and energetic. His Mao being very different to those of Andy Warhol, who would portray Mao as an icon or star, whereas for Yan Pei Ming, Mao represents me, you, our father, a dictator, a hero, everything, nothing, he is what we make of him.

The present work radiates intensity, Mao is depicted in black and white to represent the colour of death but above all is also the absence of colour. This grey in grey painting bears a beautiful impasto technique that condenses to narrate and immerse the viewer in a profundity of emotions. The impressive large sized Mao is the product of the complex structure of his memory and the specific deployment of mnemonic images transferred onto the canvas in a direct, spontaneous and dramatic style. Mao is eminently real and true, vibrant and relevant. In so doing, the present work evokes subjective reality as a key artistic means of preserving culture.

Sotheby's, Contemporary Art Day Auction, London, 14 Oct 2011 www.sothebys.com