Yan Pei-Ming Chinese, b. 1960

Born in Shanghai during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Yan Pei-Ming moved to Paris at the age of 20 to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Graduating in 1999, he quickly found fame with his large-scale portraits of Mao Zedong, painted in black and white or red and white.

Rendered in as few strokes as possible, using brooms and a limited palette, Yan’s unusual technique verges on abstraction. Worked mostly from memory, his paintings appear immediate and energetic, capturing the spirit of each subject.

The artist lives and works in Dijon, France.