On the evening of October 5th, Sotheby’s 40th Anniversary Evening Auction in Asia was held. This “Sotheby’s Hong Kong 40th Anniversary Evening Auction” was a huge event, with a collection of top treasures and top private collections. Since its preparation, it has attracted much attention from the industry. As the finale, Zeng Fanzhi's "The Last Supper" lived up to expectations and was finally sold for HK$180.44 million, bringing the auction to a successful conclusion. At the same time, the warm applause from the Sotheby's auction house not only shocked the entire Suzhou Fubi also shocked the entire Asian contemporary art, indicating that Asian contemporary art has entered what people call the "billion-dollar era."
Zeng Fanzhi's "The Last Supper" not only set the highest auction record for his personal works with a transaction volume of HK$180.44 million, but also pushed Asian contemporary art into the billion-dollar era. This is a historical moment and a symbol The market rhythm and possibilities of Asian contemporary art will be reopened.
Picture 1: Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"
Picture 2: Zeng Fanzhi's "The Last Supper"
"The Last Supper" is A religious theme that tells the scene of Jesus having a dinner with his twelve disciples. The theme is that Jesus announced the news of his betrayal at the dinner. The most famous one in the world is Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" (picture 1 above). Zeng Fanzhi's creation was based on Leonardo da Vinci's work of the same name "The Last Supper" (picture 2 above) in 2001. It is exactly the same in form as Leonardo da Vinci's, except that the scene is changed from the West to China, and the characters are Jesus and the disciples. Transformed into a group of Chinese teenagers, eating watermelon for dinner, innovatively incorporating unique Chinese character scenes, the whole painting captured the face of Chinese society during the economic reform period in the 1990s with grandeur. It is reported that in order to create this work, Zeng Zhifan invited a group of young people to serve as models and took separate photos of each pose in order to create on this basis. In this work, people can see calligraphy with wild strokes on the background of the characters. It is based on the wall charts of celebrity calligraphy rubbings commonly seen in Chinese classrooms. It is a late work of Zeng Fanzhi's most iconic "Mask Series"
Zeng Fanzhi, born in 1964, is from Wuhan. Graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Hubei Academy of Fine Arts in 1991. He has participated in the "Chinese Avant-Garde Art Exhibition since 1979" and the "First Contemporary Art Academic Invitational Exhibition", and held the "Zeng Fanzhi Solo Exhibition 1993-1998".
One of Zeng Fanzhi’s mask series
Zeng Fanzhi’s mask series are usually characterized by their rigorous and unique shapes, mask symbols, cartoon colors and ironic expressions. The brain gives people a sense of depth. Often set against a simple and calm background, people can feel the current irritable and restless mental state of people from the works. His works often use metaphorical and symbolic expressionist techniques in a realistic frame, leaving a distinct impression on people. The artist captures the distinctive spirit of the social era and his sensitivity, and his works have a social significance of governing and awakening the world. sex. Most of his works are collected by collectors in Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong and Mainland China. Zeng Fanzhi's "The Last Supper" can break through the 100 million yuan mark, which shows that Zeng's works are recognized by the art market in Asia and even the world. As the highlight of Sotheby's 40th anniversary, "The Last Supper" was put up for auction. "Dinner" was sold at a high price of HK$180.44 million, which further demonstrated Zeng Fanzhi's artistic attainments and artistic value.