Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist
Exhibited
New York, Asia Society and P.S. 1, September 15, 1998 - January 3, 1999; San Francisco, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, February 26 - June 1, 1999; Monterrey, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, July 9 – October 10, 1999; Seattle, Tacoma Art Museum and Henry Art Gallery, November 18, 1999 – March 7, 2000; Canberra, National Gallery of Australia, June 3 – August 13, 2000; Hong Kong, Hong Kong Art Museum, September 22 – November 8, 2000; Inside Out: New Chinese Art.
Literature
M. Sullivan, Art and Artists of Twentieth-Century China, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1996, p. 145 (illustrated); J. Colman, ed., Chinese Contemporary 1996-98, Beijing and London, 1998, p. 10 (illustrated); N. Bryson and M. Gao, Inside Out: New Chinese Art, San Francisco and New York, 1998-1999, p. 110 (illustrated); E. Heartney, “Children of Mao and Coca-Cola,” Art in America, March 1999, p. 44 (illustrated); P. Lu, 90s' Art China, Hunan, 2000, p. 144 (illustrated); Beijing Lifestyle Trends, May 27, 2000, p. 6 (illustrated); R. Thorp and R. E. Vinograd, Chinese Art & Culture, New York, 2001, p. 403 (illustrated); Kunstnernes Hus, ed., HotPot: Chinese Contemporary Art, Oslo, 2001, pp. 33 and 35 (illustrated); Gao Brothers, eds., The Condition of Chinese Contemporary Art, Jiangsu, 2002, p. 10 (illustrated); G. Wang, Wang Guangyi, Beijing, 2002, p. 112 (illustrated); Forbes Collector, New York, December 2003, Vol. 1 No. 7, p. 1 (illustrated) and p. 4-5; J. Mehta, “Contemporary Chinese Art Finds a Place in Art History,” Art Business News, November 2003, p. 42 (illustrated); M. Nuridsany, China Art Now, Paris, 2004, p. 57 (illustrated); K. Smith, Nine Lives: the Birth of Avant-Garde Art, Zurich, 2005, p. 57 (illustrated); H. Lu, ed., China Avant-Garde Art 1979 – 2004, Hebei, 2006, illustrated on inside front cover and p. 136 (illustrated); M. Gao, The Wall, Hong Kong, 2006, p. 101 (illustrated)
Catalogue Essay
A work becomes an icon of its era for many reasons: controversy, color, money, politics, desire. Almost ten years ago, as the historic Inside Out: New Chinese Art exhibition traveled the world, one of its works captivated the public imagination, city by city, for all these reasons. The work was Great Criticism: Coca-Cola by the Chinese artist Wang Guangyi. It is today perhaps the most widely reproduced image of contemporary
Chinese art.

Wang Guangyi was born in Harbin in 1957 and attended the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. He quickly became a leading force in contemporary Chinese art circles, founding the influential Northern Art Group, and counting Geng Jianyi (Lot 517) and Zhang Peili (Lots 518 and 519) in his inner circle. His early emphasis was on rationalism; his motto to expunge art of emotion. After the legendary fracas at the China/Avant Garde exhibition of 1989, during which the authorities compelled Wang to alter his controversial Mao AO triptych (Lot 511) for political correctness, Wang was forced to leave Zhejiang and take up a teaching post in Wuhan.

It was there that inspiration for the Great Criticism series struck. The critic Karen Smith reports, “And it all began with Wang Guangyi drinking a can of Coca-Cola while perusing a copy book of socialist propaganda: ‘I put the can down to turn a page and suddenly, I found that the posturing of the soldier-peasant-workers against the Coca-Cola logo made strong visual sense. The more I looked the more intrigued I became. In content and style, both graphics are the product of two very different cultural backgrounds, and each totally embodied its own fantastic kind of ideology.” (K. Smith, Nine Lives: The Birth of Avant-Garde Art in China, Zurich, 2005, p. 61) This moment would prove the genesis for one of the most iconic series ever of contemporary Chinese art.

Wang’s Great Criticism series catapulted to international acclaim when he was one of ten Chinese artists who took the stage at the 45th Venice Biennale. With this series, Wang secured his position as the pioneer of the renowned Political Pop movement which also featured Li Shan, Yu Youhan, and Zhang Hongtu as key members. As the name implies, this movement combines images of Mao and Cultural Revolution-era propaganda with Pop motifs, thereby subverting the ideological intent of the original image. In the early 1990s much of Chinese society was grappling with issues of individual rights and political identity in the wake of Tiananmen. Political Pop artists contributed to this cause by deconstructing previously revered images of authority, infusing them with the contemporary, mass-produced air of Pop.

With Great Criticism: Coca-Cola, Wang put his finger precisely on the pulse of a country in dramatic transition. The juxtaposition of three valiant revolutionary soldiers bearing a flag against the Coca-Cola brand—which enjoys the largest market share in China’s beverage market-- cleverly captured the conflicting essences of China’s Socialist past and its capitalist, consumer-driven future. Wang’s critique “pointedly (equated) socialist propaganda with advertising” (B. Erickson, On the Edge: Contemporary Chinese Artists Encounter the West, Hong Kong, 2004, p. 23); indicating that Chinese citizens, coming out of a long dark period in history, were really only being seduced by a different ideology. For better or worse, Wang Guangyi’s vision is clearly being borne out, day by day, in the country of a billion consumers.

509

Wang Guangyi

Great Criticism: Coca-Cola

1991-1994
Oil and acrylic on canvas.
79 x 79 in. (200 x 200 cm).
Signed and dated “1991-1994 Wang Guangyi [in Chinese and English]” on the reverse.

Estimate
£400,000 - 600,000 ‡

Sold for £893,600

China Avant-Garde: The Farber Collection

The Farber Collection
13 October 2007, 7pm
London

501
Wang Guangyi
Great Criticism – Warhol
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ‡
Sold for £54,000
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502
Chen Zhen
Un Village Sans Frontières (A Village Without Borders)
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000 ‡
Sold for £60,000
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503
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £300,000
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504
Yue Minjun
Terracotta Warriors No. 6
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £168,000
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505
Cai Guo-Qiang
Skybound UFO and Shrine
Estimate £150,000 - 200,000 ‡
Sold for £378,400
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506
Ai Weiwei
Slanted Table
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000 ‡
Sold for £66,000
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507
Zhang Xiaogang
Bloodline Series
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡
Sold for £804,000
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508
Wang Guangyi
Frozen Northern Wastelands Series - Big Dolls
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £156,000
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509
Wang Guangyi
Great Criticism: Coca-Cola
Estimate £400,000 - 600,000 ‡
Sold for £893,600
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510
Xu Bing
Book from the Sky
Estimate £35,000 - 45,000 ‡
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511
Wang Guangyi
Mao AO
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡
Sold for £2,036,000
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512
Wang Guangyi
Post-Classical Series: Madonna & Child
Estimate £60,000 - 80,000 ‡
Sold for £333,600
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513
Wang Guangyi
Little Criticism: Fruit
Estimate £80,000 - 100,000 ‡
Sold for £264,000
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514
Liu Wei
No Smoking
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £378,400
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515
Wang Qingsong
Past, Present, Future
Estimate £40,000 - 50,000 ‡
Sold for £48,000
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516
Gu Wenda
Mythos of Lost Dynasties G8
Estimate £40,000 - 50,000 ‡
Sold for £38,400
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517
Geng Jianyi
The Second State: Big Red Double Happiness
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £456,800
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518
Zhang Peili
X?
Estimate £25,000 - 35,000 ‡
Sold for £102,000
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519
Zhang Peili
Continuous Reproduction 25 Times
Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 ‡
Sold for £10,800
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520
Zhou Xiaohu
Utopian Machine
Estimate £5,000 - 7,000 Ω
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521
Zheng Guogu
Computer Controlled by Pig's Brain! Number 19
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ‡
Sold for £26,400
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522
Hong Hao
Selected Scriptures I: Drawing of a Revolutionary Modern Opera
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 ‡
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523
Huang Yong Ping
House of Oracles (study for installation)
Estimate £15,000 - 20,000 ‡
Sold for £9,000
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524
Yang Shaobin
Untitled (Head No.10)
Estimate £80,000 - 120,000 ‡
Sold for £144,000
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525
Zeng Fanzhi
Xiehe Hospital Series Triptych
Estimate £500,000 - 700,000 ‡
Sold for £2,764,000
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526
Zeng Fanzhi
Dusk No. 1
Estimate £50,000 - 70,000 ‡
Sold for £156,000
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527
Zeng Fanzhi
Artist and Model
Estimate £30,000 - 40,000 ‡
Sold for £45,600
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528
Zeng Fanzhi
Untitled
Estimate £35,000 - 45,000 ‡
Sold for £38,400
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529
Wang Qingsong
Can I Cooperate with You?
Estimate £7,000 - 9,000 ‡
Sold for £19,200
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530
Zhang Hongtu
Long Live Chairman Mao Series, #29
Estimate £5,000 - 7,000 ‡
Sold for £4,200
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531
Lin Tianmiao
Bound and Unbound (Teapots)
Estimate £5,000 - 7,000 ‡
Sold for £9,600
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532
He Sen
The Girl Biting her Hand
Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 ‡
Sold for £30,000
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533
Wang Jinsong
Modern Crowds
Estimate £100,000 - 150,000 ‡
Sold for £192,000
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534
Hai Bo
They No. 3
Estimate £6,000 - 8,000 ‡
Sold for £18,000
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535
Zhu Fadong
Person for Sale
Estimate £10,000 - 15,000 ‡
Sold for £9,000
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536
Zhuang Hui
Group Photograph of Military Officers and Soldiers, PLA Regiment 51410, Fourth Artillery Squadron, Hebei Province, Handan City, June 23, 1997
Estimate £5,000 - 7,000 ‡
Sold for £6,600
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537
Ma Yunfei
Zhuang Hui: Look Out! Don't Move
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 ‡
Sold for £10,800
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538
Wang Jinsong
Parents
Estimate £7,000 - 9,000 ‡
Sold for £4,200
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539
Feng Zhengjie
Bubble No. 3
Estimate £20,000 - 30,000 ‡
Sold for £62,400
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540
He An
15 Reasons for Fashion: Hurt
Estimate £4,000 - 6,000 ‡
Sold for £3,600
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541
He An
15 Reasons for Fashion: Showoff
Estimate £4,000 - 6,000 ‡
Sold for £3,000
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542
Liu Rentao
Listless
Estimate £8,000 - 12,000 ‡
Sold for £7,440
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543
Zhang Dali
Dialogue
Estimate £5,000 - 7,000 ‡
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544
Li Wen
Cut in Half
Estimate £4,000 - 6,000 ‡
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545
Ye Yongqing
Untitled
Estimate £12,000 - 18,000 ‡
Sold for £36,000
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China Avant-Garde: The Farber Collection

The Farber Collection 13 October 2007, 7pm London

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Provenance

Exhibited

Literature

Catalogue Essay

509

Wang Guangyi

Great Criticism: Coca-Cola

China Avant-Garde: The Farber Collection

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The Farber Collection
13 October 2007, 7pm
London