Zeng Jianyong Art
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
4
2
5
3
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
10
5
7
2
1
8
8
7
6
5
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
10
10
10
5
5
10
9,081
2,808
2,504
1,349
5
10
Artist: Zeng Jianyong
Zeng Jianyong "The Header No. 68"
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Los Angeles, CA
ZENG JIANYONG (b. 1971)
The Header No. 68
2008
Ink and watercolor on handmade paper
35 ½ x 28 ¾ inches (90 cm x 73 cm)
Inventory Number: CNLS2643
Jiangyong Zeng was born in 1971 in...
Category
Early 2000s Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
$18,750 Sale Price
75% Off
Zeng Jianyong "The Header No. 54"
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Los Angeles, CA
ZENG JIANYONG (b. 1971)
The Header No. 54
2007
Ink and watercolor on handmade paper
28.5 x 56.75 inches (90 cm x 73 cm)
Framed 29.5 x 58 inches
Inventory Number: CNLS2643
Jianyong ...
Category
Early 2000s Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
$22,500 Sale Price
82% Off
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 Art
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
$18,750 Sale Price
75% Off
Zeng Jianyong "The Header No. 74"
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Los Angeles, CA
ZENG JIANYONG (b. 1971)
The Header No. 74
2008
Ink and watercolor on handmade paper
35 ½ x 28 ¾ inches (90 cm x 73 cm)
Inventory Number: CNLS2643
Jianyong Zeng was born in 1971 in ...
Category
Early 2000s Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
$18,750 Sale Price
75% Off
Spare Time 26
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Palm Desert, CA
An ink and watercolor on handmade paper painting by contemporary Chinese artist Jianyong Zeng. "Spare Time 26" is executed in pastel watercolor and depicts the portrait of an anthropomorphic dog...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Handmade Paper
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 Art
Materials
Ink, Watercolor
Spare Time 16
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Palm Desert, CA
An ink and watercolor on handmade paper painting by contemporary Chinese artist Zeng Jianyong. "Spare Time 16" is executed in pastel watercolors and depicts an anthropomorphic portra...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Handmade Paper
Spare Time 23
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Palm Desert, CA
An ink and watercolor on handmade paper painting by contemporary artist Jianyong Zeng. The painting is executed in pastel watercolor and depicts the portrait of an anthropomorphic dog...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Watercolor, Ink, Handmade Paper
Discipline-Flying Bird
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Palm Desert, CA
An ink and watercolor on handmade paper painting by contemporary artist Zeng Jianyong. Executed is muted pastels of blues, pinks, white and black, "Discipline-Flying Bird...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Handmade Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Discipline-Reading Boy
By Zeng Jianyong
Located in Palm Desert, CA
An ink and watercolor on handmade paper painting by contemporary Chinese artist Jianyong Zeng. "Discipline-Reading Boy" depicts a boy, a necklace of thorns around his neck, reading a...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Ink, Handmade Paper, Watercolor
Related Items
Lemon Meringue - Gyotaku Style Sumi Ink Painting of a Multi-Colored Octopus
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
A small octopus is inked in the Japanese style of Gyo-Taku print making. Using sumi ink to "print" the octopus, the artist then embellishes it with colored pencil to convey an extraordinary dimensionality. By printing it on Mulberry paper, which mimics the swirl of water, the artist achieves a beautiful aesthetic. The artwork is matted and framed in a simple white wooden frame measuring 18.25h x 24.25w x 1d inches.
Jeff Conroy
Lemon Meringue
sumi ink and colored pencil on mulberry paper
12.50h x 18.25w in
31.75h x 46.35w cm
JEC118
Gyotaku - A Japanese word translated from "gyo" meaning fish and "taku" meaning stone impression and is believed to get its inspiration from Chinese stone rubbings...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Watercolor, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil, Sumi Ink
$975
H 12.5 in W 18.25 in
Two Macks - Gyotaku Style Sumi Ink Painting of Two Mackerel on Paper
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
A Mackerel is inked and then "printed" with sumi ink in this Japanese style of Gyo-Taku print. The artist then embellishes the fish with colored pencil adding an extraordinary dimen...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil
$800
H 12.5 in W 18.5 in
Boo Berry - Gyotaku Style Sumi Ink Painting of a Multi-Colored Octopus
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
A small octopus is inked in the Japanese style of Gyo-Taku print making. Using sumi ink to "print" the octopus, the artist then embellishes it with colored pencil to convey an extraordinary dimensionality. By printing it on Mulberry paper, which mimics the swirl of water, the artist achieves a beautiful aesthetic. The artwork is unframed. Please contact the gallery for framing options.
Jeff Conroy
Boo Berry
sumi ink and colored pencil on mulberry paper
12.50h x 18.25w in
31.75h x 46.35w cm
JEC116
Gyotaku - A Japanese word translated from "gyo" meaning fish and "taku" meaning stone impression and is believed to get its inspiration from Chinese stone rubbings...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil
$800
H 12.5 in W 18.25 in
Berry Cobbler - Gyotaku Style Sumi Ink Painting of an Octopus
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
A small octopus is inked in the Japanese style of Gyo-Taku print making. Using sumi ink to "print" the octopus, the artist then embellishes it with colored pencil to convey an extra...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil
$800
H 12.5 in W 18.5 in
Hand coloured framed print of semi nude sculpture like marble statue of female
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 Art
Materials
Glass, Oak, Paint, Watercolor, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment
$548
H 8.55 in W 6.58 in D 0.79 in
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 Art
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
$602
H 12.6 in W 10.24 in D 0.6 in
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 Art
Materials
Watercolor, Ink
$445
H 12.6 in W 10.24 in D 0.6 in
Citroen 15CV - Contemporary Watercolor & Ink Painting, Vintage Car, Realistic
By Mariusz Szałajdewicz
Located in Warsaw, PL
Mariusz Szalajdewicz (b. 1974)
Studied at the Faculty of Architecture at Warsaw University of Technology, where he mastered the drawing skill. Architect and urbanist, illustrator.
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
The Blue Ring of Cape Fourcroy - Gyotaku Painting of Octopus on Nautical Chart
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
An octopus is inked in the Japanese style of Gyo-Taku print making. Using sumi ink to "print" the octopus, the artist then embellishes it with colored pencil to convey an extraordin...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Sumi Ink, Watercolor, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil
Wroclaw - Contemporary Watercolor & Ink Landscape Painting, Architecture
By Mariusz Szałajdewicz
Located in Warsaw, PL
Mariusz Szalajdewicz (b. 1974)
Studied at the Faculty of Architecture at Warsaw University of Technology, where he mastered the drawing skill. Architect and urbanist, illustrator.
...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Ink, Paper, Watercolor
'Towards Le Scathe Cove'. Contemporary Landscape, Rural, Sea, Ocean, Beach Blue
By Sophia Milligan
Located in Penzance, GB
'Towards Le Scathe Cove'. Contemporary mixed media landscape painting, Cornwall
Original Artwork, Unframed
_________________
January morning, heavy swell and a strong southwester, rain imminent, sheltering beneath lichen furred granite outcrops.
A plein air painting from the series 'Holan ha Dor' (Meaning 'Salt and Earth in Cornish). West Cornwall is a harshly beautiful peninsula, jutting out into the wild tireless ocean, shaped and moulded by powerful salt laden Atlantic winds, and criss-crossed by ancient, tangled hedgerows. Drawn to the immediacy of moments, underpinned by enduring narratives, Sophia's fluid expressive paintings explores the flux and balance in the nature of all things: The freedom of the air and solidity of the soil; Of anchored stone and rhythmic water; Of human narratives written in the wild landscapes; In the sensual interplay of light and shadow. They capture an essence of the equilibrium between wild raw energy and serene stillness; chaos and harmony; and the enduring and the effervescent.
Mixed media on watercolour paper
Signed and inscribed
Unframed
23 x 30cm / 9 x 12 inches
__________________________
About The Artist
Sophia Milligan is a contemporary multidisciplinary artist, exploring discourses on permanence & evanescence; the eternal, cyclical absolutes of birth & death; motherhood & childhood; and ancient immutable connections. With resonating ripples of intuition and instinct Sophia illuminates the presence of the ordinary, creating moments of sublime present.
'Born among the wild cliffs and tempestuous seas of west Cornwall, I grew with the intimate details in the twisting lanes and the intense changing light throughout the turbulent seasons. I formed a primordial connection with a deep instinctual sense of being part of the natural narrative, and wherever in the world I may be, this connectivity underpins my practice. Like the wind sculpted hawthorns and sensual coves of weather worn granite, I have been shaped by the powerful energy entwined in this ancient raw environment.’
‘We are the stories of the journeys that came before. I weave into my work the tales of transitory circumstance; of struggle and survival; of forms and textures holding records of evolutionary millennia. I paint, I draw: with marks, mixtures, photography, words; the raw earth; the restless oceans; the whispered breeze. I work with time, and the immeasurable spaces of experience within, giving subtleties of existence a pause for contemplation. There is beauty in such poignant breaths. All moments are significant, every pebble of now forms the vast mountain of yesterday, and the great realm of tomorrow's possibilities'.
Sophia has a 1st class honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Visual Arts and World History, and a Masters Degree in Contemporary Visual Arts. Her work is held in prestigious international private collections, and exhibitions of her interactive, immersive installation, photography and mixed media works include 'Tabula Rasa', London; 'Superlative', Plymouth; 'Transition', Newlyn; The Eden Project, Cornwall; The European Parliament, Brussels; Kew Gardens, London; and 'The Cameraless Film Festival', Chicago...
Category
2010s Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper, Crayon, Wax, Acrylic, Color Pencil
Sophia Milligan'Towards Le Scathe Cove'. Contemporary Landscape, Rural, Sea, Ocean, Beach Blue, 2022
$347 Sale Price
50% Off
H 9 in W 12 in
Cobalt Canary - Gyotaku Style Sumi Ink Painting, Multi-Colored Octopus, Framed
By Jeff Conroy
Located in Chicago, IL
A small octopus is inked in the Japanese style of Gyo-Taku print making. Using sumi ink to "print" the octopus, the artist then embellishes it with colored pencil to convey an extraordinary dimensionality. By printing it on Mulberry paper, which mimics the swirl of water, the artist achieves a beautiful aesthetic. The artwork is matted and framed in a white wooden frame measuring 18.25h x 24.25w x 1d inches.
Jeff Conroy
Cobalt Canary
sumi ink and colored pencil on mulberry paper
12.50h x 18.25w in
31.75h x 46.35w cm
JEC122
Gyotaku - A Japanese word translated from "gyo" meaning fish and "taku" meaning stone impression and is believed to get its inspiration from Chinese stone rubbings...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Zeng Jianyong Art
Materials
Watercolor, Sumi Ink, Mulberry Paper, Color Pencil
$975
H 12.5 in W 18.25 in
Zeng Jianyong art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Zeng Jianyong art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Zeng Jianyong in ink, paint, watercolor and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Zeng Jianyong art, so small editions measuring 21 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Patricia Traub, Francisco Souto, and Robert Zakanitch. Zeng Jianyong art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $12,000 and tops out at $125,000, while the average work can sell for $36,000.