Zhang Hongtu is a leading figure in Chinese contemporary art and one of the most important figures of Political Pop movement. Born into a Muslim family in 1943 and trained in traditional ink and color painting, Zhang permanently moved to the US in the 1980s and his art testifies to his multi-cultural influences and identities.

Mao, After Picasso (sketch) (Lot 39) is the sketch of an original oil painting to be included in the Queens Museum’s retrospective of the artist later this year. After visiting Picasso Black and White show at the Guggenheim New York in 2012, Zhang was deeply struck by the clear formal structure and autonomy underlying Picasso’s paintings when deprived of colors. The ubiquity and hypocrisy of Mao’s image has been a recurrent topic in Zhang’s oeuvre. Dominated by cool palette, the work features Mao’s face and his uniform fragmented into geometric facets, inspired by the analytical stage of Cubism. In addition, the nearly claustrophobic space and the glaring lamp above Mao’s head draws reference from Picasso’s Guernica and therefore adds multiple meanings and dimensions to the iconic image of Mao.

Sleeping Monkey (sketch) (Lot 38) depicts a monkey imposed upon a gridded background of darkness and sparkles reminiscent of dazzling city lights. Monkey is an embodiment of the original form of human being as of many other animals appeared in Zhang’s work. Zhang calls for the return to the pure and primordial state of human nature in the increasingly overwhelming society.