Born in 1968, Mao Yan grew up in a special historical period. China’s contemporary art environment in the 1980s impelled young artists like Mao Yan to care about themselves and authentic thoughts of human. So he, while still studying at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), created several artworks of Self Portrait.

This artwork awakens our reminiscence of the Self-Portrait (The Man with a Pipe) of Gustave Courbet, a master of realism of France in 19th century because Mao Yan, inspired by the skylights of studios in the CAFA, started to look back on the classics of European classical art. In this work, the artist raises his head a little bit, while squinting at himself in the mirror from top to bottom. His hairs are loosed, spreading freely in the air. His thick and firm shoulder is covered by blue colors, which further highlights his sensitive face. The background behind the artist is deep dark, hinting some mysterious and romantic feelings and echoing with his gloomy and detached expression which is hard to understand. The oil paint used in the painting is very thin and details in the work are complex and confusing, and such treatments directly prod at the artist’s uneasiness and “neuroticism”.

Self-portraits usually present a person’s appearance and eyes, through which the person’s thoughts, emotions and morals are hinted. Each Mao Yan’s Self-portrait is a solitary picture with a man sitting alone in a dark room, which presents the restraint of emotions and spirituality. His works fully embody the refined and fragile emotions of human beings, which can be found in this work. With noble sincerity and authenticity, he announces his illusions of the future and hidden worries about the end of the century in his youth, and his works are called as “a kind of expression symbols at the century’s end”.

(Edited by Li Hanning & Yang Zhige, 2021)