Artwork Description

Title:Color Wheel

Artist:
Yan Lei

Date:
Undated (Contemporary)

Medium:
Oil painting

Dimensions:
210 × 210 cm (82.7 × 82.7 in)

Artwork Identification:
Color Wheel is a monumental circular oil painting by contemporary Chinese artist Yan Lei. Measuring 210 centimeters in diameter and presented framed, the work displays a series of concentric color bands arranged in harmonious gradients. Dominated by soft hues of pink, gray, white, and black, the palette culminates in a vibrant central disc of yellow and turquoise. The flawless transitions between tonal zones generate a sense of radial movement and chromatic depth. The work is minimalist in its structure, yet visually magnetic, commanding the space with serene intensity.

Artistic Style and Influences:
This painting exemplifies Yan Lei’s commitment to conceptual minimalism, color theory, and perceptual experience. It aligns with the legacy of Op Art and color field painting—echoing the optical explorations of artists like Josef Albers and Bridget Riley—while also reflecting Yan Lei’s characteristically controlled detachment. The circular form and meditative rhythm of hue progression may also draw from Eastern philosophical concepts of infinity and cyclical time, merging Western abstraction with Chinese intellectual subtlety.

Historical Context:
Yan Lei is recognized as a key figure in China’s post-1989 contemporary art movement, often exploring the visual language of consumerism, repetition, and perception. Color Wheel can be viewed as part of this broader inquiry—eschewing narrative content for pure sensory impact. The work’s scale and compositional simplicity offer a counterpoint to the hyper-stimulated visual culture of the digital age, instead emphasizing contemplation and formal purity. Painted against a context of globalized image saturation, it reasserts the physical, meditative power of analog color.

Provenance and Authenticity:
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

Condition and Conservation:
The canvas presents a small tear in the central area. Otherwise the artwork is in very good conditrion.

Artistic Significance:
Color Wheel represents a commanding example of Yan Lei’s minimalist conceptualism. Its purity of form and radiant discipline distinguish it within his broader practice, which often interrogates media saturation and systems of visual control. As the market and institutions continue to recognize Yan Lei’s contributions to global abstraction and Chinese conceptual art, works like this are increasingly sought after for their visual refinement and philosophical depth.