“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
Catalogue Essay
The artist and his work Born in the small town of Chaoshan, Guangdong, Zeng Jianyong graduated from the Chinese painting department at Huqiao University and the printmaking department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He then trained as an illustrator for children’s books to begin with, completing several under Warner Book Publications before transitioning to focus on his own painting career.
Taking inspiration from the experiences of his own son, Zeng often depicts children and teenagers in his paintings, charged with a subdued melancholy, within landscapes awash in a hazy pastel palette evocative of the smog in Beijing. The figure’s rounded faces are intricately textured by a thin film of colour, rendered in the traditional style of Chinese ink and wash painting. Their hollow gazes which pierce beyond the veneer of the painting and through the viewers themselves in a moment of bewilderment or contemplative ennui. Zeng's work intentionally juxtaposes groups of depressed children with innocent adults, espousing a sense of surreal with his unique visual compositions.
Artists Zeng Jianyong and Zhang Tianmu speak about their practice
Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner
Exhibited
Hong Kong, ARTboratory, One must look with the heart, 29 June - 12 July 2021
Ж21
The Little Prince
signed 'Jianyong [in Chinese]' lower right
ink and colour on paper mounted on wood panel
48.3 x 36.1 cm. (19 x 14 1/4 in.)
Executed in 2021.
Estimate
HK$40,000 - 60,000
€4,500-6,800
$5,100-7,700
Sold for HK$50,400
Hin Hin Wong
Associate Specialist, 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Hong Kong
+852 2318 2013
hinhinwong@phillips.com
Asteroid B-612 Online Auction: Inspired by a Saint-Exupéry Novel
Online Auction 7-14 December 2021