Artwork Description

Title: Snow
Artist: Yu Xiaoyu
Date: 2017
Medium: Oil on paper
Dimensions: 40 x 50 cm (15.7 x 19.7 in)

1. Artwork Identification
Snow by Yu Xiaoyu is a striking abstract landscape rendered in oil on paper. With its textured impasto and swirling palette of earthy whites, greys, and icy blues, the work evokes a snowstorm’s intensity across a mountainous terrain. Thick, expressive brushstrokes and gestural layering create a tactile surface that transforms the flat support into a sculptural experience.

2. Artistic Style and Influences
Yu Xiaoyu employs a painterly abstraction that bridges traditional Chinese landscape aesthetics with modern material experimentation. The dynamic layering and calligraphic textures suggest an influence from literati ink painting, reinterpreted through Western impasto techniques. The result is a contemplative yet energetic visual field.

3. Historical Context
Created in 2017, this piece reflects a period when Chinese contemporary painters increasingly engaged with cross-cultural visual language and non-traditional materials. Xiaoyu's choice of oil on paper—a delicate and less common pairing—speaks to a spirit of experimentation and expressive immediacy.

4. Provenance
Provenance documentation can be provided upon contact.

5. Condition and Conservation
The artwork is in very good condition overall. The corners of the paper are slightly bent, and the paint layer shows areas of yellowing due to the inherent sensitivity of oil applied to paper—a known conservation challenge. Despite this, the structural integrity of the work remains intact. This condition is typical for this medium combination and era.

6. Artistic Significance
Snow captures the fleeting essence of a natural event through a bold, tactile vocabulary. Yu Xiaoyu’s ability to channel both motion and stillness positions this work as a significant contribution to the discourse between Eastern and Western contemporary abstraction. It is a poetic and collectible example of material-driven painting in China’s 21st-century art scene.