Not Registered? Log In
Previous LotNext lot

Hu Xiangdong (Chinese, b.1961)
LOT ID: 60541
Untitled. No 10. ("Transparency Series"), 2010

Oil, on canvas
43.1 х 43.1 in. cm.
Signed, inscribed, and dated in white oil paint, front.
Lot description
"Untitled. No 10. ("Transparency Series") is a major new oil painting by renowned Chinese Post-Modern artist Hu Xiangdong, and is an exciting example of the new complexities and directions that the artist is taking in his ongoing series of realist figural oil paintings that Hu started in the early 2000's. The series is based on the ironic synthesis of Western Pop art and traditional Chinese imagery as seen here. Two young, handsome Chinese men, each dressed in black suits, white collared shirts and ties, with smart eye-glasses and stylish haircuts, convey their level of affluence. For reasons unknown, they are draped in transparent yet slightly reflective plastic sheeting. Hu covers them in plastic since it is a “modern material” yet paints the material in an highly fractured, abstracted manner, where the viewer and subject are both literally and metaphorically separated from one another and from ever engaging on any real level.

The concept behind these new close-up, cropped portrait paintings is that artifice and the synthetic have replaced the real and organic. His paintings are founded on how far removed post-Modern China is from the Taoist ideal not to seek unbridled pursuit of material wealth. Hu transmits this message visually via his blatant use of Western, American Pop inspired figures of the young, affluent Chinese men and women that he paints in the manner of artist such as Alex Katz, Robert Longo, and David Hockney. This visual reference is ironic and intentional, tying the new moneyed Chinese generation directly to the West.

Hu Xiangdong (B. 1961, Nanjing, China ) graduated from the prestigious Nanjing Art Academy in 1988 with a Degree in painting. Hu was drawn to experimental artists that operated outside the system, including the artist of the Chinese “Avant–Garde”. The economic boom in China during the late 1990's greatly affected Hu's work and started creating installations and paintings based on a mockery of the new money that was defining the 'New China'. Ironically, it was this new money and the economy in China that introduced his works to the international market and started to show in exhibitions throughout Europe, Asia and in the past few years, the U.S.


Alternate Views: 1 of 1
Share |
Add Hu Xiangdong to My Artist Alert
Receive email alerts as soon as artists you follow are up for sale. Update your artist watch list any time.

Sales Results for Comparable Works

To help you value the lot, artnet Auctions specialists have selected similar auction results from the artnet Price Database. To better understand the lot estimates with more comparable results, subscribe or log in to the Price Database now.

  • Hu Xiangdong

    The space between transparency
    oil on canvas
    (H 59.1, W 32.7) in.
    (150 x 83) cm.
    Sold for: US$9,398 €
    Sunday, June 27, 2010
    Hosane Auction Co. Ltd.
    Lot 00216

  • Hu Xiangdong

    Estranged
    oil on canvas
    (H 78.7, W 59.1) in.
    (200 x 150) cm.
    Sold for: US$32,254 €
    Thursday, May 29, 2008
    Poly International Auction Co., Ltd.
    Lot 00572

  • Hu Xiangdong

    Membrane
    oil on canvas
    (H 59.1, W 45.3) in.
    (150 x 115) cm.
    Sold for: US$15,145 €
    Sunday, December 23, 2007
    Hosane Auction Co. Ltd.
    Lot 00107

  • Hu Xiangdong

    Interval of transparent I
    oil on canvas
    (H 32.7, W 59.1) in.
    (83 x 150) cm.
    Sold for: US$14,613 €
    Sunday, December 09, 2007
    Zhong Cheng Auctions
    Lot 00149
artnet Auctions—Buy and sell art 24/7 worldwide. ©2013 Artnet Worldwide Corporation. All rights reserved. artnet® is a registered
trademark of Artnet Worldwide Corporation. Call for Assistance: US +1-877-388-3256, EU +49 (0)30 20 91 78 50