Chen Yifei

signed in pinyin and Chinese; Marlborough Gallery, New York label affixed to the stretcher on the reverse
Executed in 1999.

Marlborough Gallery, New York
Important Private European Collection

New York, Marlborough Gallery, Chen Yifei: New Works, December 7, 1999 – January 15, 2000

Chen Yifei: New Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, 1999, plate 27, illustrated in colour
Song Yingmei, ed., Chen Yifei, Tianjin Yangliuqing Fine Arts Press, Tianjin, 2008, p. 96, illustrated in colour

This work is in very good condition overall. There is evidence of a slight paint loss along the left edge of the painting, 40 cm from the bottom edge of the work. There is no evidence of restoration under UV.
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Borrowing the film technique of a close-up shot, Chen Yifei created a predominantly brown canvas depicting a mother and son. Their heavy winter robes and the cloth covering the mother's face effectively convey the stark and blustery climate of the Tibetan plateau. Chen's daring use of blocks of colour and rough brushstrokes fully capture the sense of time and what was palpably real. Chen presented the mother disproportionately, with her covering more than two-thirds of the canvas. A sense of tension is created through the meeting of the eyes of the two figures, at the same time conveying the immeasurable magnanimity of motherly love. Her sheer size signifies tolerance as well as the importance of women in Tibetan matriarchal society. The canvas also portrays the unique living conditions and closeness of family among those people as well as their kindness and simplicity.

Just as art critic Shang Hui wrote: "Chen Yifei's lifelong devotion to the mysterious highlands of Tibet might be attributed to the truth, simplicity, straightforwardness and freedom he could intuit from that sense of mystery...No matter what, opposites such as classical and modern, subdued and carefree, refined and crude, noble and common, elegant and simple are all assembled in Chen's own personality. That is a complete artistic personality, a complete Chen Yifei." 1 As an important emblem of the "Tibetan" series, this painting is a prized collectible.

[1] Shang Hui, ed., The Lonely Journey Crossing Cultures, Shanghai People's Art Publishing House, 2010, p. 341