They are two of the biggest names in the art world: Zeng Fanzhi and Larry Gagosian. Hailed by the New York Times as “China’s hottest artist,” 52-year-old Zeng holds the record for the most expensive Asian contemporary work sold at auction (The Last Supper drew US$23.3 million when it went under the hammer at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2013).
The straight-talking Gagosian is widely considered the world’s most powerful art dealer, with 16 commercial galleries across the US, Europe, the UK and Asia.
Zeng is the only living Chinese artist represented by Gagosian, whose stable of contemporary artists includes Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Anselm Kiefer. He has also exhibited the work of legendary figures such as Francis Bacon, Claude Monet, Jackson Pollock, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol.
When Gagosian set up a Hong Kong gallery in 2011, one of the first exhibitions was a solo show of Zeng’s work. Since then the two have fostered a lucrative relationship. The famously prolific artist has been described as a master of reinvention, the gallerist relentless in his pursuit of a deal.
The son of printing factory workers from Wuhan, Zeng dropped out of school at 16 to join his parents at work. Drawing provided a release from the daily drudgery, and a few years later he applied to study at art school. He failed the entrance exams five times but was finally accepted in 1987 into the Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, where he developed a particular appreciation for German expressionism.
