PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Europe

EXHIBITED:
Fils du Dragon, Portraits chinois , Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France, May 14-September 1, 2003

ILLUSTRATED:
Yan Pei-Ming , Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, Shanghai, 2005, color illustrated, unpaginated

AUTOPORTRAIT
YAN PEI MING

“PAINTING IS VERY DIFFICULT, BECAUSE THE 'LANGUAGE' OF PAINTING IS A VERY OLD ONE THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS. UNLESS YOUR WORK STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD, AND YOU HAVE SOMETHING SPECIAL TO SAY, AND YOUR OWN PARTICULAR IDEAS TO GET ACROSS, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO GET ANYWHERE IN PAINTING.”
-YAN PEI MING

Yang Pei Ming thinks that the purpose of painting is to contribute to humanity. Artistic talent is not about being an artist, but being able to express their views of life and world. The theme is all around Humanity, as he said“I'm interested in humanity. My work can be considered as kind of a universal portrait. What I paint is always, deep inside, an idea of this humanity. ”

Created in 2002, Autoportrait has been shown in his solo exhibition Fils du Dragon, Portraits chinois at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon, France in 2003. Yan Pei Ming took self-portrait as a method to explore unconscious and color red as a symbol of hope. He illustrated himself with short hair, prominent nose and lips, looking to the left side. It is less easy for beholders to recognize the artist immediately in such an image. Yan moved alone to France when he was nineteen, where he reexamined his life through art without any concern from Chinese culture. Executing self portrait is like looking at a mirror that he can scrutinize his mind incessantly. Autoportrait is a series following Yan's whole life, there are stories of him, when we look at these works, as well as we are sharing his stories.

Yan Pei Ming was born in Shanghai in 1960 and he moved to France in 1982. He attended the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Dijon and the Institut des Hautes Études en Arts Plastiques in Paris. Yan Pei Ming is renowned for his epic-sized, monochromatic portraits of Mao. His subjects also include historical figures, political leaders, celebrities, as well as anonymous figures and the artist himself. Yan's signature broad and rapid brushstrokes often add a touch of abstraction to his portraits. He said Everyone imagines I work very quickly because, in my work, you can't see the sweat. I like that in my work you can see spontaneity. ﹝⋯﹞Even though I work a lot, I don't want people to see a sense of labor in my paintings. I just want them to sense that spontaneity and impact .

Yan Pei Ming has won international renown for his large red, white and black portraits. He was one of the first Chinese contemporary artists to successful break into the Western art market and to establish himself in Western art circles. With his perceptive, powerful, detailed, tragedy-embued brush-strokes, Yan's portraits reflect the nature of existence for different individuals, and their respective spiritual worlds. This alternation provides him a base for exploring the deep significance of social issues such as war, poverty, inequality, life and death over the course of human evolution.

Yan Pei Ming's work was collected by the Pompidou Center in 1991 made Yan turn into the third ethnic Chinese artist ever to be accorded this honor, following in the footsteps of Zao Wou-ki and Chen Zhen. Since then, Yan has held solo exhibitions in many of Europe's most prestigious art institutions, and has taken part in many leading international art exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale and Lyon Biennale. In 2009, Yan Pei Ming became the first living contemporary artist to have his work shown at the Louvre. The artist lives and works in Dijon.