Lot 38: LIU XIAODONG (Chinese, B. 1963)

LIU XIAODONG (Chinese, B. 1963) The Son signed in Chinese; dated '09' (lower right); signed and titled in Chinese; signed 'Liu Xiaodong' in Pinyin; titled, inscribed and dated 'The Son 100 x 90 cm oil on linen 2009'(on the reverse); Mary Boone Gallery label affixed (on the stretcher) oil on canvas 100 x 90 cm. (39 3/8 x 35 3/8 in.) Painted in 2009

100 x 90 cm.

Mary Boone Gallery, New York, USA, Yan' Guan Town, 11 September-23 October 2010.

Mary Boone Gallery,Yan' Guan Town, New York, USA, 2010 (illustrated, p. 119).

Mary Boone Gallery, New York, USA Acquired from the above by the present owner

Liu Xiaodong is one of the most acclaimed contemporary Chinese painters. His portraits of ordinary people are painted in situ. Fascinated by the culture of Yan' Guan County in Gansu Province, and by the peaceful co-existence of two religions foreign to Han culture, he traveled there in 2009 to paint a Muslim and a Christian family. The artist chooses subjects he relates to and translates this intimacy in the painting. The 'Z' family are depicted in the setting of their simple brick church. This painting is part of the series of individual portraits Liu Xiaodong created. The composition is similar to the one in the large group portrait of the family. It is orchestrated around the red cross, of which only the base is visible and the television.