Artwork Description

Title: Girl
Artist: Shaoli Chen
Date: 2015
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 23.6 x 19.7 in (60 x 50 cm)

1. Artwork Identification
Girl by Shaoli Chen captures a quiet yet psychologically rich moment between two young girls seated on a patterned rug, each clutching a worn plush Pink Panther. The scene is rendered in muted tones with vivid accents in clothing and props, resulting in an image that is at once nostalgic and contemplative. The peculiar expressions of the girls, paired with the exaggerated features of their toys, lend the work an unsettling edge, challenging assumptions of childhood innocence.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Chen's style fuses decorative modernism with psychological portraiture. His use of flattened space, stylized figures, and ornamental detail nods toward both Chinese folk traditions and Western post-impressionist painting. The symmetry and repetition of elements—such as the mirrored poses and striped textiles—create a rhythmic harmony that belies the subtle emotional disquiet embedded in the figures’ gaze and posture.

3. Historical Context
Shaoli Chen belongs to the first generation of artists to mature in post-Cultural Revolution China, and his work reflects both continuity with Chinese academic painting and a post-1980s openness to international styles. Painted in 2015, Girl speaks to a generation shaped by consumerism and shifting identity politics. The inclusion of familiar pop culture icons like the Pink Panther introduces global visual references, linking personal memory to a broader socio-cultural narrative.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition. The paint surface is intact, and the canvas shows no signs of wear or restoration.

6. Artistic Significance
Girl exemplifies Shaoli Chen’s strength in merging figurative storytelling with a decorative visual language. His ability to weave innocence, irony, and subtle social critique into a single frame makes this work particularly compelling. As an influential educator and practicing artist, Chen's impact on contemporary Chinese oil painting is profound, and this piece is a strong representation of his mature style and thematic interests.