Yan Pei-ming

Yan Pei-Ming , born 1 December 1960, is a Chinese painter. Since 1981 he has been living in Dijon, France. His most famous paintings are "epic-sized" portraits of Mao Zedong worked out in black and white or red and white. He works with big brushes, and his paintings are brought to life by the rapid brush strokes which structure the picture space.

Biography

Early life and education Yan Pei-Ming was born on 1 December 1960 in Shanghai, the second of four children, working with art in a poor family of factory workers. At 14 in 1974, he created a "propaganda studio" in his spare time. Ming applied for admission to the Shanghai Art & Design School, but failed the oral test due to his stuttering problem. In 1979, aged 19, he decided to leave Shanghai and eventually emigrated to France in November 1980. Ming then enrolled in the École des Beaux-Arts of Dijon in September 1981, where he met French conceptual artist Sylvia Bossu.

Career In 1987, Yan Pei-Ming renewed with the portraits of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong. In 2009 Yan Pei-Ming's "The Funeral of Mona Lisa" exhibition was held at the Louvre, featuring a self-portrait and a painting of his father, both in death.

In 2016 he had an exhibition at the Villa Medici in Rome. In March 2019 French President Emmanuel Macron visited Ming at his Ivry-sur-Seine studio, and inaugurated in June of the same year an exhibition at the Musée Courbet featuring Ming's works.

Collections Public collections holding works by Yan Pei-Ming include the Centre Georges Pompidou; the Musée des beaux-arts de Dijon; the Honolulu Museum of Art; the National Gallery of Australia; the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; the Museum Ludwig; and the Shanghai Art Museum.