Zeng Fanzhi

Zeng Fanzhi (; born 1964) is a contemporary Chinese artist based in Beijing. Zeng's works have been praised as possessing an emotional directness, an intuitive psychological sense, and a carefully calibrated expressionistic technique.

Born and raised in Wuhan, Zeng was interested primarily in painting and drawing from a young age, and did poorly in school. His earliest works are large-scale abstract paintings. Moving to Beijing in the early 1990s, Zeng's art became a response to this immersion in what he viewed as a more superficial environment, with his seminal Mask series displaying the tensions between the artist's dominant existential concerns and the pomposity and posturing of his new contemporary urban life (which is depicted ironically).

Throughout, Zeng's expressionistic techniques run counter to conventional expressionism. His representation of raw, exposed flesh or awkwardly oversized hands is not an attempt at pure emotional expression, but instead plays against the superficially composed appearances of his subjects, an ironic treatment of emotional performance as a metaphor for a lost self and stunted self-realization.

Popular mostly with foreign collectors at first, Chinese buyers of Zeng's work rose in the mid-2000s. He has been described as an "icon of the art world", and is often considered China's greatest living artist.

Early life Zeng was born in 1964 in Wuhan, Hubei. He grew up during the Cultural Revolution and dropped out of high school. In May 2008, he set a world auction record when "Mask Series 1996 No. 6", one of his contemporary Chinese art pieces, was sold for $9.7 million in Hong Kong.

Art school Zeng was in Hubei Institute of Fine Arts from 1987 to 1991, and paid a particular interest in German expressionist painters. During his third year of schooling, he began instead to learn more about the actual approaches that the expressionists would take to painting. as well as the "meat" series. In his Hospital series, Zeng moved to a theme that included the use of hospital interiors, where he devoted much of the detail to the patients' moods and the power that certain brush stroking techniques could yield. and made him a multimillion dollar artist.

After 1997, Zeng's art became more stylish through the incorporation of new backgrounds like the sea. For a 2014 show at the Louvre, he completed some large oil paintings with western figures, a series called From 1830 Till Now (and also known as The Louvre Project). These were followed by minimalist, black-and-white works etched on handmade paper and influenced by the art of the Song dynasty. Each painting by Zeng takes about a month for him to complete. He has also said, "My works have to originate from the depths of my heart."

Zeng has collaborated with the Japanese architect Tadao Ando in his exhibitions. He also supports a variety of educational and art initiatives through The Fanzhi Foundation for Art and Education, a non-profit foundation which he established to foster more exchanges and understanding of art. Zeng is represented by Hauser & Wirth.

We n:2 We n:2 is both an abstract and a self-portrait of Zeng Fanzhi. The fact that the face is so large and dominating causes the viewer to feel almost minuscule in its presence. His landscapes are some of his best work, and while painting them he uses two separate brushes. The bright reds and oranges show both an ironic sense of great courage over the top of an uncertain future.

Paradise (2014), a painting done by Zeng and businessman Jack Ma to raise money for an environmental campaign group, was sold for HK$42.2 million (US$5.4 million) in 2015.

As of 2017, Zeng's total sales volume surpassed $444 million. In August 2020, Mask Series 1996 No. 6 was sold for 161 million yuan ($23.3 million) in Beijing.

In China Daily, Lin Qi reported that after the 2014 Louvre show, "Visitors were asked to comment on Zeng's work. Some were fascinated by his bold treatment. Others didn't think it fit the room." From 1830 Till Now No 4 appeared in the Louvre's Room 77 from October 22 to November 17, 2014. In a ShanghART show, all four works in From 1830 Till Now were displayed.