Artwork Description

Title: Pigeon
Artist: Zhang Dali
Date: 2016
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 157.5 x 82.7 in (400 x 210 cm)

Artwork Identification
Pigeon is a monumental oil painting by Zhang Dali, measuring an extraordinary 400 by 210 cm. Executed on a grand scale, the work exemplifies Zhang’s signature blend of realism, conceptual critique, and socio-political commentary. Pigeons —symbolically loaded in both Eastern and Western contexts—are rendered with striking clarity against an expansive background, inviting reflection on peace, surveillance, displacement, or urban anonymity. The image, both literal and metaphorical, resonates with the artist’s broader preoccupations with identity, visibility, and the human condition.

Artistic Style and Influences
This work reflects Zhang Dali’s mature painting practice, deeply informed by his interdisciplinary background in graffiti, sculpture, and photographic manipulation. The realism employed here is deceptive—while the subject appears familiar and benign, Zhang’s treatment invests it with layered meanings. The aesthetic is crisp, controlled, and minimal, evoking the quiet yet persistent intensity also seen in his Chinese Offspring and Second History series. Thematically, Pigeon engages with the iconography of propaganda, resistance, and urban life—rendered with a painterly precision that recalls both classical technique and conceptual art’s critical stance.

Historical Context
Zhang Dali rose to prominence in the wake of China’s rapid modernization and urban redevelopment in the 1990s. As one of Beijing’s first graffiti artists, his practice has continually engaged with the visual language of power, marginalization, and public memory. Pigeon emerges from this continuum, symbolizing both docility and defiance, peace and fragility, within the shifting dynamics of a society negotiating its identity between collectivism and individuality. It is a work that transcends specific moments to comment on broader existential and socio-political concerns.

Provenance and Authenticity
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

Condition and Conservation
Pigeon is in excellent condition. The canvas is structurally stable and the paint surface displays no evidence of cracking, flaking, or restoration.

Artistic Significance
With its iconic subject, commanding scale, and conceptual precision, Pigeon is a major work by Zhang Dali—one that encapsulates his commitment to investigating the nuances of modern life through deceptively simple imagery. This painting is a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire a large-format work by one of China’s most influential and internationally recognized contemporary artists, whose career continues to shape the discourse around art, politics, and urban identity.