Artwork Description

Title: Stone 3
Artist: Kai Zhu
Date: 2012
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 30 x 30 cm (11.8 x 11.8 in)

1. Artwork Identification
Stone 3 is a compelling circular oil painting by Kai Zhu, executed on canvas with a strikingly sculptural impasto technique. The richly textured form dominates the central field, rendered in layered purples, silvers, and deep blues, suggesting a mineral or geological abstraction. The circular format intensifies its sense of autonomy and focus, presenting the stone-like subject as both object and icon.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
This piece exemplifies Kai Zhu’s exploration of tactility and abstraction through material buildup. Drawing from the traditions of Art Informel and Chinese scholar stone aesthetics, Zhu fuses painterly abstraction with geological suggestion. His approach evokes elements of Jean Dubuffet’s material experimentation and the meditative qualities of Gongshi (Chinese viewing stones), rendered in a contemporary idiom that is both sensorial and metaphysical.

3. Historical Context
Created in 2012, Stone 3 reflects the growing interest among Chinese contemporary artists in reinterpreting classical motifs through new media. The notion of the stone—long revered in Chinese cultural history as a symbol of permanence and contemplation—is transfigured here through bold color and impasto, aligning with early 2010s global dialogues around materiality, perception, and hybridity in painting. This synthesis speaks to a broader cultural moment where tradition and innovation coalesce.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The work is in very good condition. The canvas is stable and unwarped, and the raised paint surface shows no flaking or separation. The three-dimensional paint texture is intact and well-preserved, and the coloration remains vibrant. No restoration work is evident or required.

6. Artistic Significance
Stone 3 is a significant example of Kai Zhu’s signature material language, where surface and subject dissolve into one another. The piece not only captures the physicality of painting but also reflects a meditative philosophical depth, channeling the legacy of Chinese stone appreciation into a resolutely contemporary form. This work will appeal to collectors of abstract and material-focused painting, as well as those interested in cross-cultural artistic dialogues.