Artwork Description

Title: Dreaming
Artist: Yan Bo
Date: n.d.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 63.8 × 44.9 in (162 × 114 cm)

1. Artwork Identification
Dreaming is a vibrant oil painting by Chinese contemporary artist Yan Bo, whose distinctive method of layering pigment and mineral material brings a sculptural tactility to the painted surface. The composition presents a reclining female figure nestled in a fragmented field of intense color and texture. The work’s glowing palette—dominated by fiery oranges, lilacs, and saturated reds—dissolves the boundaries between the body and its environment, offering a dreamlike, immersive viewing experience.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Yan Bo’s painting inhabits a liminal space between abstraction and figuration. His bold impasto technique and the accumulation of vivid pigments align his practice with movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Art Informel, while maintaining a rootedness in Chinese material aesthetics. His surfaces are built like geological strata—accumulating time, color, and texture—creating visual experiences that are as much about feeling as they are about form.

3. Historical Context
As a key figure among China’s mid-career artists, Yan Bo emerged during a period of experimentation following the liberalization of artistic expression in the late 20th century. His practice reflects a shift away from didactic representation toward introspective, material-rich abstraction. Dreaming embodies this cultural and historical pivot, offering an expression of inner psychological space articulated through bodily form and color field.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The work is in very good condition. Yan Bo’s deliberate use of impasto and mineral materials results in a richly textured surface with intentional craquelure and layered buildup. There is no evidence of restoration or structural issues; the integrity of the canvas and paint surface remains intact.

6. Artistic Significance
Dreaming is emblematic of Yan Bo’s distinctive artistic language—one that bridges ancient materiality and contemporary abstraction. The physicality of the painting invites both visual and tactile contemplation, offering a rare synthesis of Eastern philosophical depth and modern painterly boldness. Collectors of avant-garde Chinese contemporary art will recognize in this work a powerful confluence of gesture, material, and meditative force.