Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Chinese, b. 1971
Jianyong Zeng was born in 1971 in Chengdu, in the Sichuan Province of China. He originally trained as a illustrator for children’s books, completing several for Warner Book Publications before choosing to focus on his own paintings.
Zeng has a unique style and subject matter, both of which he exploits to their fullest potential in his Header Series. This group of paintings depicts children with disproportionately large heads and wide eyes. They stare out from the canvas with expressions that suggest a combination of innocence and anxiety. One is reminded of the travails of childhood and of the difficulty children face in learning to navigate a world that operates beyond their understanding and without their consent.
These portraits also have a more particular meaning. The term Header, refers to the title that is granted to the highest-achieving children in each class at school. To be a Header is a coveted position and parents often pressure their children into working extraordinarily hard to win this title. Zeng seems to imply that although Headers enjoy a certain level of prestige, they are often envied by their classmates, who taunt and bully them. In the paintings, the children’s frightened eyes and sprawling red marks, suggestive of physical abuse, attest to the realities they face.
Zeng’s interest in this subject arose from the very personal experience of watching his young son attend school. As a result of this close encounter, Zeng developed a sense of sympathy and compassion for these youth who spend their time seeking to appease their parents, rather than enjoying a carefree childhood. In spite of the pressures they face, however, the children in his paintings still retain a measure of childhood innocence that will not be overcome. The Header Series is compelling because it captures this tension of childhood by creating portraits that are intimate and very honest.to
1
2
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
10
1,195
954
938
829
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Artist: Zeng Jianyong
Zeng Jianyong "The Header No. 67"
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Zeng Jianyong The Header No 67
Ink and watercolor on handmade paper
35 ½ x 28 ¾ inches ...
Category
Early 2000s Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
Zeng Jianyong "The Header No. 67"
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Los Angeles, CA
ZENG JIANYONG (b. 1971)
"The Header No. 67"
2008
Ink and watercolor on handmade paper
Sheet Size: 35 ½ x 28 ¾ inches (90 cm x 73 cm)
Framed Size: 37H x 30W inches
Inventory Number: C...
Category
Early 2000s Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
$18,750 Sale Price
75% Off
Related Items
Hand Coloured 18th Century Copper engraving from "Small Riding School" No 26
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid 18th century hand coloured copper plate engraving of an equestrian subject by Johann Elias Ridinger. Initial signed 'in the plate' bottom right. Presented in a fine gilt wood fra...
Category
Mid-18th Century Rococo Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
$439
H 12.6 in W 10.24 in D 0.6 in
Hand Coloured 18th Century Copper engraving from "Small Riding School" No 32
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid 18th century hand coloured copper plate engraving of an equestrian subject by Johann Elias Ridinger. Initial signed 'in the plate' bottom right. Presented in a fine gilt wood fra...
Category
Mid-18th Century Rococo Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
$416
H 13 in W 10.63 in D 0.6 in
Mu-Tamagawa
Located in Middletown, NY
Woodcut in ink with embossing and hand-coloring in watercolor on laid Japon paper, 16 x 10 inches (406 x 253 mm), ōban tate-e, full margins. Scattered handling wear and toning, other...
Category
Late 19th Century Edo Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Woodcut
Dandies-of-1817, from Monstrosities
By George Cruikshank
Located in Middletown, NY
London: Thomas McLean, 1818. Third Edition. Etching with hand coloring in watercolor on cream wove paper, (published August 1st, 1835), 9 1/2 x 13 3/4 in...
Category
Early 19th Century Victorian Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Watercolor, Etching
The Protestants Champion!!
(... Duke of Sussex, Son of King George III)
By George Cruikshank
Located in Middletown, NY
This portrait of King George the III's son was published in the same year that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony premiered in London.
'The Protestants Champion!!' (Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex...
Category
Early 19th Century English School Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Engraving, Etching
Two Hand Coloured 18th Century Engravings from "Small Riding School" No 26
32
Located in Cotignac, FR
Two Mid 18th century hand coloured copper plate engravings of equestrian subjects by Johann Elias Ridinger. Initial signed 'in the plate' bottom right. Presented in fine gilt wood fr...
Category
Mid-18th Century Rococo Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
$594
H 12.6 in W 10.24 in D 0.6 in
A Chinese Watchman, from The Costume of China, by G.H. Mason, engr. John Dadley
Located in Middletown, NY
London: 1799. Copperplate stipple engraving with hand coloring in watercolor, 17 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches (445 x 260 mm) (sheet), full margins. In very good condition with some minor, lig...
Category
Late 18th Century Old Masters Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Engraving
$400
H 17.5 in W 14.25 in
Waiting room at the Admiralty (*no Misnomer)
By George Cruikshank
Located in Middletown, NY
London: Thomas McLean, 1820. Second Edition. Etching with handcoloring in watercolor on cream wove paper (published 1835), 8 3/8 x 11 1/2 inches (210 x 29 0mm), full margins. Second...
Category
Early 19th Century Victorian Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Watercolor, Etching
Hand-coloured Print of weeping mythical sculpture angels in Walnut Frame
Located in London, GB
Hand-coloured tableau of a weeping spirit and her guardians, immobilised in marble. A disjointed narrative looking at recovery and protection, the angels shield the spirit with tender embraces and cry for her when alone.
Taken from The Sialia Marbles, a series of portraits containing ephemeral human sculptures taken between 2016-19. Together these works act as tales contained in a fictional sculpture hall, in direct reaction to Andre Malraux’s 1947 Le Musee Imaginaire (Museum Without Walls).
During the beginning of the 'Museum Age' in the 18th century , writer Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe discussed mythical...
Category
18th Century Victorian Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Cotton, Walnut, Paint, Photographic Film, Ink, Spray Paint, Watercolor, ...
$2,203 Sale Price
40% Off
H 18.51 in W 22.45 in D 1.58 in
Le Retour de Paris /The Niece presented to her Relatives by Her French Governess
By George Cruikshank
Located in Middletown, NY
London: Thomas McLean, 1835.
Etching with hand coloring in watercolor on cream wove paper, 4 3/4 x 6 1/2 inches (120 x 165 mm), full margins. Printed by Thomas McLean. Light, small c...
Category
Early 19th Century Victorian Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Watercolor, Etching
Hand coloured photograph of semi nude human female sculpture, Oak Frame
Located in London, GB
Katie Eleanor, "Cleansing a Shrike (Blackbird’s Birdbath)", 2018
Handcoloured portrait of a bird-like spirit, immobilised in marble, cleansing in a sprin...
Category
2010s Romantic Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Glass, Oak, Paint, Watercolor, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
$429 Sale Price
20% Off
H 8.55 in W 6.58 in D 0.79 in
"Personaje" 1991 Signed Original Silkscreen
Watercolor Proof 16x12in Cubism
Located in Miami, FL
"Juan Sebastian Barbera (Mexico, 1964)
'Personaje', 1991
Silkscreen and Watercolor on paper Velin Arches 300 g.
15.8 x 11.9 in. (40 x 30 cm.)
ID...
Category
1990s Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Prints and Multiples
Materials
Screen, Watercolor
Zeng Jianyong prints and multiples for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Zeng Jianyong prints and multiples available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Zeng Jianyong in ink, paint, watercolor and more. Not every interior allows for large Zeng Jianyong prints and multiples, so small editions measuring 30 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Chu Teh-Chun, Yue Minjun, and Alex Guofeng Cao. Zeng Jianyong prints and multiples prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $60,000 and tops out at $125,000, while the average work can sell for $75,000.