Artwork Description

Title: Untitled
Artist: Sun Yan
Date: Undated
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 19.7 x 23.6 in. (50 x 60 cm)

1. Artwork Identification
This ethereal oil painting by Sun Yan, presented without a Title:, features two luminous white horses standing against a deep ultramarine-blue backdrop. The horses are rendered in a ghostly, glowing aura that diffuses softly into the surrounding atmosphere, creating a dreamlike tension between figure and void. Executed in oils on canvas, the work measures 50 by 60 centimeters and is characterized by fluid, expressive brushstrokes and a deliberately hazy resolution.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Sun Yan’s approach in this composition aligns with a contemporary expressionist aesthetic tinged with surrealist undertones. The glowing silhouettes and nocturnal setting evoke a metaphysical quietude reminiscent of Odilon Redon’s dream imagery and the emotional resonance found in Mark Rothko’s color fields. Simultaneously, the mysterious treatment of the animal figures also recalls the poetic symbolism found in traditional East Asian ink landscapes—transposed here into the oil medium with a modern sensibility.

3. Historical Context
Though undated, the work reflects broader currents in 21st-century Chinese contemporary art, where figuration often serves as a metaphor for inner states, spiritual longing, or environmental consciousness. The imagery of horses, long associated in Chinese art with endurance, nobility, and transcendence, here takes on a spectral quality, as if suspended in an otherworldly realm. The painting may be interpreted within the framework of post-reform-era Chinese art, where individualism and dreamlike introspection increasingly became valid subjects.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition. The canvas remains taut with no visible warping or damage. The paint surface is stable, showing no signs of flaking, craquelure, or restoration. The ethereal quality of the brushwork appears intentional and well-preserved, requiring no conservation at this time.

6. Artistic Significance
This Untitled painting by Sun Yan embodies a quiet intensity and emotional resonance that is both visually arresting and conceptually open-ended. Its minimal narrative and transcendent imagery encourage contemplation, making it a standout piece within the artist’s broader body of symbolic figuration. The composition’s lyrical abstraction and spiritual undertones position it as a compelling acquisition for collectors of contemporary Chinese painting and dream-infused visual poetics.