"Smoking in a Corner" (2007) is a large-scale figurative painting of two beautiful Chinese woman who pose standing together seductively back to back gazing out invitingly at the viewer, by famed Chinese Contemporary artist Shi Wei (China, b.1965), one of the pioneers of the Contemporary Realist movement in China. Here, both women are captured in a relaxed unassuming setting, both breaking to smoke cigarets, dressed only in sexy laungerie. This work belongs to his most important "Sister" series of large-scale oil paintings that each feature two women, scantily clad and in close emotional and physical contact with one another. Whether paintings or sculptures in the round, Shi's subject matter is always the female form, placing his iconic, overly slender, and impossibly beautiful hyper-sexualized women in common place domestic or commonplace contexts. His paintings and sculptures are highly sought-after on the primary and secondary market and rarely come to auction. This large scale painting measures 74.8 x 59.05 inches (190 x 150 cm), is unframed and in perfect condition.

Shi Wei received both his B.A. in 1986 and M.A. in 1997 at Hebei Academy of Fine Arts and currently teaches at the Beijing City University. He has exhibited for decades throughout Europe and Asia, including the International Contemporary Art Fair in Hong Kong, the Singapore Art Fair, The Art Center of BIAC, Beijing, History Museum of China, Beijing and Yang gallery, Singapore and Beijing.