Artwork Description

Title: 2 Portraits
Artist: Haohui Wang
Date: 2013
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 80 x 120 cm (31.5 x 47.2 in) & 80 x 150 cm (31.5 x 59.1 in)

1. Artwork Identification
This compelling diptych by Chinese artist Haohui Wang features two large-scale portraits rendered in expressive oil on canvas. Executed in 2013, both works depict seated female figures clothed in black dresses, captured in nuanced, introspective poses. The figures are painted with gestural brushwork, hovering between representation and abstraction, as their facial features blur into the painterly field. The emotional atmosphere is heightened by the artist's manipulation of light, shadow, and a muted color palette dominated by earthy tones and subdued highlights.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Haohui Wang’s work emerges from a lineage of post-1980s Chinese realism blended with painterly expressionism. His portraits reveal the influence of European modernists such as Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, where the focus shifts from literal resemblance to emotional resonance. Wang employs a vigorous handling of paint and compositional restraint to elicit psychological depth and human vulnerability. The abstracted facial treatment and tactile surface texture demonstrate a deeply personal visual vocabulary shaped by contemporary Chinese painting’s evolving discourse.

3. Historical Context
Completed in 2013, these portraits were created during a period of intensified globalization in Chinese art, when painters explored identity, gender, and introspection beyond propagandist realism or academic traditions. The works reflect a movement away from grand narratives toward the intimate and existential, capturing a broader shift in Chinese figurative art. This period also witnessed a growing recognition of individual psychology and private emotional states in visual culture, particularly among artists trained during the post-Cultural Revolution academic reform era.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
Both canvases are preserved in very good condition. No visible losses, tears, or discoloration are present. The paint layers are stable and the surface retains a rich texture and saturation, indicative of careful conservation and proper storage. No conservation interventions are currently required.

6. Artistic Significance
These portraits represent a mature statement within Haohui Wang’s body of work, offering insight into his treatment of human form and emotional interiority. Their large scale and psychological intensity position them as compelling examples of contemporary Chinese portraiture. For collectors and institutions interested in 21st-century Asian figurative painting, these works offer both aesthetic sophistication and historical resonance. They are exemplary of the quiet power and painterly exploration that define Wang's contributions to modern Chinese art.