Provenance
Bernier Elliades, Athens
Private Collection, New York
Sotheby’s, London, ‘Contemporary Art, Day’, 22 June 2007, lot 415
Acquired from the above sale by the present owner
Catalogue Essay
Yan Pei-Ming paints large canvases in a style notable for its rapid, expressive brushwork. He has gained particular renown for huge portraits employing a limited palette of white and black or red – a highly economical use of colour which he uses to conjure up an alternate realm beyond the reach of ‘real’ hues. Often referred to as the ‘master of brushstroke’, his work is represented in major museum and gallery collections all over the world. He has also participated in several prestigious group exhibitions, including the 2nd Seville Biennal in 2006, and the Venice Biennales of 1995 and 2003.

Yan’s portraits usually contain key elements of his own personal memory and imagination, mingled with propaganda derived from Maoism and other ideologies. Most of his paintings suggest an atmosphere of nostalgia, often being based on the heroic notions of traditional history painting. This story has parallels with the artist’s own work, which is also a product of experimentation and self-reinvention. Having grown up in Shanghai during China’s Cultural Revolution, Yan decided to settle in France and create his own style and technique, working in a more individualistic fashion than had been encouraged in his homeland. In the monochromatic portraits which resulted, Yan has positively embraced the possibilities of chance and experimentation, using fluid, dramatic brushstrokes inspired by traditional Chinese calligraphy, and creating backgrounds that are rarely as important as the main subject they serve to emphasise. The overall effect is striking and vibrant, with a careful balance between minimalism and maximalism, peace and disruption. Prime examples are his epic Mao Zedong portraits, brushed in thick, swift strokes: viewed at close quarters they appear to be abstract, but the motif becomes more evident from a distance.

Containing elements of both orient and occident, Yan’s expressive style speaks of the western world, while his controlled palette and ‘blurred’ technique is more suggestive of eastern aesthetics. Invisible Man no. 1 foregrounds this connection between two cultures, with its masterly use of dripping paint, selective highlights and subtle delineation all contributing to an air of enigmatic vitality. Such works are psychologically charged, with a shallow pictorial space that appears both iconic and the monumental, and fluid brushwork that at times resembles watercolour. The artist often describes his large-scale canvases as “collages” of memories and photographs, but rather than documenting separate historical or current events, they suggest an ongoing history in flux.

According to Jérôme Sans, Director of Beijing’s Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (UCCA), and co-curator of its 2009 Yan Pei-Ming exhibition Landscape of Childhood, “Yan Pei-Ming has become the ultimate artist portraying the iconic scene”. Guo Xiaoyan, UCCA Chief Curator and co-curator of Landscape of Childhood, agrees: “Yan Pei-Ming’s portraits, furiously and quickly executed with a strong, large brushstroke technique, [represent] the artist’s concerns on social conflicts and international politics and present his ongoing interest [in the] problems of universal human nature”.

33

Yan Pei-Ming

Invisible Man no. 1

2000
oil on canvas
220.5 x 300.5 cm (86 3/4 x 118 1/4 in)
Signed [in English and Chinese], titled and dated ‘Invisible Man no. I Yan Pei-Ming 2000’ on the reverse.

Estimate
£200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠

Sold for £163,250

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

14 February 2013
London

1
Nate Lowman
Green Escalade
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000
Sold for £337,250
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2
Rob Pruitt
Power of the Panda (Happy Alone)
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 †
Sold for £115,250
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3
Dan Colen
A Slip of the Tongue
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £133,250
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4
Mark Grotjahn
Untitled (Black and Canary Yellow Butterfly) #699
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
Sold for £457,250
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5
Rashid Johnson
Write me In
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £85,250
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6
Donald Judd
Untitled (91-149 Menziken)
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000
Sold for £337,250
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7
Christopher Wool
Untitled (P271)
Estimate £1,300,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £1,665,250
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8
Barbara Kruger
Untitled (Look and listen)
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000
Sold for £253,250
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9
Andy Warhol
Brillo Soap Pads Box
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡
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10
Andy Warhol
Tomato Juice Box
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £223,250
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11
Andy Warhol
Hammer and Sickle
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡
Sold for £247,250
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12
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Untitled
Estimate £1,800,000 - 2,500,000 ‡
Sold for £1,945,250
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13
Andy Warhol
Beatle Boots (Negative)
Estimate £550,000 - 650,000 ‡
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14
Jean-Michel Basquiat
For B.A.M.
Estimate £1,200,000 - 1,800,000 ‡
Sold for £763,830
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15
Banksy
Bomb Middle England
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £229,250
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16
Jonathan Wateridge
Jungle River Landscape with Plane Wreck
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £109,250
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17
Albert Oehlen
Student II
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡♠
Sold for £169,250
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18
Jean Dubuffet
Le Chien Rodeur
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡♠
Sold for £325,250
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19
Cecily Brown
East of Eden
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £724,450
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20
Damien Hirst
Untitled 2 (Spot Painting)
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡♠
Sold for £295,250
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21
Marc Quinn
Frozen Head
Estimate £600,000 - 800,000 ‡♠
Sold for £713,250
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22
This lot is no longer available.
23
Rosemarie Trockel
Waterfall
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ♠
Sold for £361,250
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24
Richard Prince
What Can You Do?
Estimate £300,000 - 500,000 ‡
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25
Elizabeth Peyton
Dr. Scarpinato (Vincent)
Estimate £120,000 - 180,000 ‡
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26
George Condo
Untitled (Choo Choo)
Estimate £350,000 - 450,000 ‡
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27
Cindy Sherman
Untitled #469
Estimate £180,000 - 220,000 ‡
Sold for £205,250
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28
The Bruce High Quality Foundation
Las Meninas
Estimate £150,000 - 250,000 ‡
Sold for £181,250
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29
Thomas Houseago
Caryatide with Squatting Man
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ♠†
Sold for £73,250
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30
Rudolf Stingel
Untitled
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000 ‡♠
Sold for £79,250
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31
Ryan Sullivan
July 24, 2011 - September 28, 2011
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000
Sold for £91,250
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32
Mark Tansey
Study for the Valley of Doubt
Estimate £250,000 - 350,000 ‡
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33
Yan Pei-Ming
Invisible Man no. 1
Estimate £200,000 - 300,000 ‡♠
Sold for £163,250
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34
Isa Genzken
Empire/Vampire
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ♠
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35
Sterling Ruby
Monument Stalagmite/Headbanger
Estimate £70,000 - 100,000 †
Sold for £85,250
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36
Marc Quinn
Careless Desire
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ♠
Sold for £157,250
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Contemporary Art Evening Sale

14 February 2013 London

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Provenance

Catalogue Essay

33

Yan Pei-Ming

Invisible Man no. 1

Contemporary Art Evening Sale

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14 February 2013
London