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The art world was last night trying to establish whether builders had accidentally defrosted a seminal piece of Britart by unplugging collector Charles Saatchi's kitchen freezer.

Rumours spread after suggestions that Saatchi had stored a blood sculpture made by Britart's enfant terrible, Marc Quinn, among his frozen peas. The work, Self, consists of Quinn's head cast in nine pints of his own frozen, congealed blood.

Builders who arrived to extend Saatchi's London kitchen at the request of his partner, the television chef, Nigella Lawson, are said to have unplugged the appliances to find red liquid oozing across the floor.

Saatchi declined to comment last night. Some art world insiders were sceptical, arguing the blood head was always exhibited in its own refrigeration unit. Saatchi bought the piece for a rumoured £13,000 in 1991 from art dealer Jay Jopling, who said the "very fragile" sculpture "requires quite a bit of commitment on the part of the collector".

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The art world was last night trying to establish whether builders had accidentally defrosted a seminal piece of Britart by unplugging collector Charles Saatchi's kitchen freezer.

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Zeng Fanzhi's Last Supper sells for Asian record $24.7m

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Zeng Fanzhi's Last Supper sells for Asian record $24.7m

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http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/eye-on-asia/2013/11/zeng-fanzhi-the-last-supper.html

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Updated October 17, 2016 23:30:34

No doubt you've heard of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, but there is another giant of China's contemporary art scene who has smashed into the West, with his works selling for tens of millions of dollars.

Zeng Fanzhi is considered by many to be China's greatest living artist.

He has fused Oriental and Western styles and one of his works, a communist parody on Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, recently broke records for Chinese contemporary art, selling for $30 million.

For the first time, Zeng is having a major retrospective in his homeland.

"I paint with two brushes at the same time. I control two brushes like Chinese master chopsticks. I normally use one brush to paint, another one to destroy," he told Lateline.

His abstract landscapes are titled This Land so Rich in Beauty - a line taken from a Chairman Mao poem.

The paintings are a statement on China's grand propaganda art.

"For many years I've always made the art I like. No-one controls me and I am not afraid of censorship. I am able to exhibit my works on my terms," he said.

Zeng is a high school drop out. He is the son of factory workers from the gritty city of Wuhan in central China.

At art school, Zeng's art teacher instructed him to paint cultural colourful scenes but he refused and instead painted what he saw around him.

"I lived next to this hospital. I could see those patients' faces every day. I think real life is just here. I thought I should paint what I saw, what I heard every day," he said.

In 1993 Zeng moved to Beijing and painted his breakthrough Mask series.

"It shows my mood when I just moved to Beijing, a strange city. I felt lonely and confused when I moved to a new place, and started a new life," he said of the series.

In 1998 an American tourist brought Mask Number Six for $20,000. Ten years later it sold for $13 million.

Zeng spends 330 days a year painting, only taking a month off during the height of summer.

He says his art maps the development of China over the last three decades.

"China has undergone huge changes and I have too. My work reflects my psychological state and social changes," he said.

"I always want to move forward. Once I reach a level that I can master, it's time to move on."
Watch China correspondent Matthew Carney's profile on Zeng Fanzhi on Lateline tonight at 9.30pm (AEDT) on ABC News 24 or 10.30pm on ABC TV.
First posted October 17, 2016 18:06:10

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Modern art giant makes statement on China's grand propaganda

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Updated October 17, 2016 23:30:34 No doubt you've heard of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, but there is another giant of China's contemporary art scene who has smashed into the West, with his works selling for tens of millions of dollars. Zeng Fanzhi is considered by many to be China's greatest living artist.

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Is the concept of ‘artist's materials’ irrelevant in the face of the new technological advances in image production?

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Is the concept of ‘artist's materials’ irrelevant in the face of the new technological advances in image production?

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David Hockney Bigger trees near Warter 2007

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David Hockney Bigger trees near Warter 2007

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David Hockney The arrival of spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire 2011 

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David Hockney The arrival of spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire 2011 

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandreerrera/2014/01/07/chinese-contemporary-art-goes-global-and-for-real/#45b670ed32b5

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Christo & Jeanne-Claude The Floating Piers 2014/2016

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Christo & Jeanne-Claude The Floating Piers 2014/2016

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Wukun WanambiNhina, Nhama, Ga Nama (Sit, Look and Listen) 2014

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Wukun WanambiNhina, Nhama, Ga Nama (Sit, Look and Listen) 2014