LACMA Adds a Zeng Fanzhi, Anchoring Contemporary Chinese Collection

Zeng Fanzhi, Untitled (2018). Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Purchased with funds provided by Dominic and Ellen Ng. (c) Zeng Fanzhi 2019

LACMA has announced the purchase of an untitled, nearly 9 x 12-foot painting by Zeng Fanzhi. Beijing-based Zeng was exposed to German Expressionism in art school, and his work blends Chinese and Western influences. The LACMA painting, oil on canvas, suggests action painting (Riopelle as much as Pollock), Dürer's Great Piece of Turf—and maybe even a touch of Italian Divisionism?!

Zeng is one of China's most exhibited artists, but he's rarely seen in U.S. museums. Auction prices have far exceeded acquisition budgets: Zeng's The Last Supper sold for $23 million in 2013. Dominic and Ellen Ng provided the funds for the LACMA purchase.

The painting is on view in the Ahmanson Building. Incidentally, LACMA opens a loan show of contemporary Chinese art, "The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China," on June 2, 2019.

Detail of the above. (c) Zeng Fanzhi 2019