This work was part of the Ullens collection and has been exhibited at the inaugural show "85 New Wave" for the opening of the UCCA museum in Beijing .
It is the largest format of the Circle Series .
Yu Youhan worked on abstraction for 8 years from 1980 till 1988 .
In 1989 he switched his interest and started his Pop series, but carried on with a few more abstract works up to 1992.
He started his Circle Series in 1985 . The total number of works in the Circle Series is about 40.
In an interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist published by Leap magazine on March 15, 2011, YYH admits that he made "more than 20 Circle paintings ".
Most of the paintings are in the format 160 x 130cm or smaller .
From that group, there are only 2 paintings of large size , both 200x200cm : one in black ( the present one) and one in colour ( whereabouts unknown).
In this photo below, we can see these 2 large works of 200 x 200cm shown in a 2006 exhibition in a public gallery in Chengdu .
we can also notice (on the right of the photo) the 2 artworks Circle 86-5B and Circle 88-3, N. 13 and N.17 in the Yallay exhibition .
On the left of the photo, we can see the work Circle 85-4 (red with 2 circles, one above the other)
that was in the Ullens collection and that sold at auction in 2011 for a record price for Yu Youhan ( in excess of 14 million HK$) .
That red work is now in the public collection of Taikang Life Insurance company in Beijing.
It is the largest format of the Circle Series .
Yu Youhan worked on abstraction for 8 years from 1980 till 1988 .
In 1989 he switched his interest and started his Pop series, but carried on with a few more abstract works up to 1992.
He started his Circle Series in 1985 . The total number of works in the Circle Series is about 40.
In an interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist published by Leap magazine on March 15, 2011, YYH admits that he made "more than 20 Circle paintings ".
Most of the paintings are in the format 160 x 130cm or smaller .
From that group, there are only 2 paintings of large size , both 200x200cm : one in black ( the present one) and one in colour ( whereabouts unknown).
In this photo below, we can see these 2 large works of 200 x 200cm shown in a 2006 exhibition in a public gallery in Chengdu .
we can also notice (on the right of the photo) the 2 artworks Circle 86-5B and Circle 88-3, N. 13 and N.17 in the Yallay exhibition .
On the left of the photo, we can see the work Circle 85-4 (red with 2 circles, one above the other)
that was in the Ullens collection and that sold at auction in 2011 for a record price for Yu Youhan ( in excess of 14 million HK$) .
That red work is now in the public collection of Taikang Life Insurance company in Beijing.