Watercolor on paper
48,8 x 54,1 in (124 x 137,5 cm

Yue Minjun : Known for his art work in oil painting.

The Chinese artist Yue Minjun was born 1962, Heilongjiang, China. Yue graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Hebei Normal University. He is best known for his art work in depicting him in various settings, frozen in laughter. He has also reproduced this signature image in sculpture, watercolor and prints. He is famous for his art work Cynical Realism: it's the intelligent man's best excuse for doing nothing in an intolerable situation.

His artwork engage the viewer with a kind of grey humor that emphasizes the canvas' boundaries as much as Yue's ability for individualistic self-expression in oil painting.

As original as his mocking self-portraits may be, Yue's art work shows a distinct penchant for art historical appropriation. Whether it’s Eugene Delacroix or Francis Bacon that Yue chooses to emulate in a specific canvas, he does the artwork with a conflicting blend of respect and mockery that is typical of the Cynical Realism movement as a whole.

The artist's attitude toward the masterpieces from which he borrows remains as ambiguous as his attitude towards the broken culture that surrounds him. At once clinging to and scorning it, Yue maintains a signature poker face throughout his entire oil paintings.