Wang Xingwei is undoubtedly an artist who excels at using art history symbols in the contemporary art world. From familiar classic artistic images to symbols of ‘bad taste’ that deviate from the mainstream, Wang combines the context of contemporary society with his unique observations and opinions, expressing them in unexpected ways - humorous, ironic, satirical, sad, or even helpless - leaving countless clues for the audience to reflect upon. Wang's paintings refuse to conform to a clear artistic style that can be easily identified by viewers. However, this has been a successful strategy to obtain even greater recognition, raising his popularity and market value. Collectors and art insiders who are not familiar with Wang’s paintings usually find them difficult to recognize at first glance. This is the essence of Wang Xingwei's art - a quiet accumulation and development of a unique creative energy while maintaining a distance from mainstream aesthetics.

Untitled (Heart-Shaped Dance) is a part of the Large Rowboat Series - one of the artist’s countless attempts and challenges throughout his creative career. The subjects of the series are this man and woman. This work was exhibited as part of Wang Xingwei’s first important solo retrospective held at Beijing UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in 2013. It was also the first large-scale solo exhibition featuring only paintings at the UCCA exhibition hall. This exhibition showcased Wang's important pre-2013 creations, including what will later appear on auction markets in Hong Kong and Beijing and become his top 20 auction records. In 2020’s Poly Beijing’s Autumn Auction, Wang Xingwei’s 1995 painting Post-85s Look was sold for RMB 31.62 million. Nearly a decade after the 2011 sale of the Ullens Collection at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, where the same painting was sold for HKD 4.58 million. This is a testimony as to how Wang Xingwei’s top works have greatly appreciated in value.

In 2007, he held a solo exhibition ‘Large Rowboat’ at the Beijing location of Galerie Urs Meile and Untitled (Heart-Shaped Dance) is a representative work from this series. From about 2004 to 2008, the artist adopted cartoon images, using a man and a woman in the picture to replace original uniformed subjects such as airline stewardesses, navy officers, and nurses. The subjects in the painting not only lack uniform, but also detailed facial expressions. Wang uses geometric silhouettes found in cartoon and comics to portray the couple as if they were lovers. The images are simple and geometrically flat, but with distortions and exaggerations that can be considered casual. The subject’s expressions do not need to be delicately articulated; their identifying features are simple and clear. Throughout the rest of the series, this stylized shadow is present; behind it, there hides Wang Xingwei's attention to gender relations and sexual consciousness. This ambiguous representation allows viewers to engage their imagination when interacting with the piece.

Wang Xingwei once said of this series: ‘I want to gradually break away from art history. In the past, the viewer needed a certain cultural background to understand my paintings. What I am creating now has a more direct relationship with anyone's personal experience. In the latest works, I take shaping the image as the starting point, and I want to simplify the form.’ⁱ Wang has established a unique artistic style, one that always challenges viewers, leaving them amazed, racking their brains, or suddenly enlightened. Ultimately, this is the core of Wang Xingwei’s work.

ⁱNataline Colonnello, “Large Rowboat Isn’t a Group Exhibition”, Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing, 13 January, 2007, online (interview between Wang Xingwei and the author Nataline Colonnello at Wang Xingwei’s studio in Shanghai, 8 Januar, 2006 )
- Provenance
  Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing
  Acquired from the above by the present owner
- Exhibited
  Beijing, Galerie Urs Meile, Large Rowboat, 3 February - 31 March 2007, n.p. (illustrated)
  Beijing, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Wang Xingwei, 19 May - 18 August 2013, p. 123 (illustrated)

Property from an Eminent Private Asian Collection

Ж38

Wang Xingwei

Untitled (Heart-Shaped Dance)

signed with the artist's initials, titled and dated '"Untitled (Heart-Shaped Dance)" [in Chinese] WXW, 2006' on the reverse
oil on canvas
200 x 200 cm. (78 3/4 x 78 3/4 in.)
Painted in 2006.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
HK$2,800,000 - 4,800,000
€318,000-546,000
$359,000-615,000

Sold for HK$3,780,000

Contact Specialist

Charlotte Raybaud
Head of Evening Sale, 20th Century & Contemporary Art
+852 2318 2026
CharlotteRaybaud@phillips.com

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Association with Poly Auction

Hong Kong Auction 30 November 2021

1
Cinga Samson
Ivory V
Estimate HK$250,000 - 350,000
Sold for HK$2,520,000
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2
Salman Toor
East Village Iqbal Bano
Estimate HK$1,800,000 - 2,800,000
Sold for HK$4,536,000
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3
Nina Chanel Abney
Untitled (IXI Black)
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$3,024,000
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4
Jamian Juliano-Villani
Clear Cough from Your Schedule
Estimate HK$200,000 - 400,000
Sold for HK$781,200
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5
Mr.
Yume—Breath of the Earth
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$4,032,000
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6
Julie Curtiss
Escargot
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$1,449,000
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7
Javier Calleja
30 works: Untitled
Estimate HK$10,000,000 - 15,000,000
Sold for HK$12,108,000
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8
Javier Calleja
You Me
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 4,000,000
Sold for HK$7,026,000
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9
Aya Takano
In the Lab (the Birth of Jelly)
Estimate HK$200,000 - 300,000
Sold for HK$441,000
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10
Hernan Bas
Minimalism (cracking the code)
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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11
Joel Mesler
Untitled (Night Out)
Estimate HK$500,000 - 700,000
Sold for HK$1,512,000
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12
Shara Hughes
Magic Island
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$4,788,000
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13
Scott Kahn
Cadman Plaza
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for HK$7,510,000
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14
Matthew Wong
Nature’s Church
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$9,204,000
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15
Matthew Wong
Far Away Eyes
Estimate HK$8,000,000 - 12,000,000
Sold for HK$21,183,000
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16
Gerhard Richter
Kerzenschein (Candle-light)
Estimate HK$55,000,000 - 75,000,000
Sold for HK$101,970,000
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17
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18
Yayoi Kusama
INFINITY-NETS (OPRT)
Estimate HK$15,000,000 - 25,000,000
Sold for HK$22,635,000
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19
Yayoi Kusama
Repetition
Estimate HK$15,000,000 - 20,000,000
Sold for HK$19,005,000
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20
Nicolas Party
Still Life
Estimate HK$6,200,000 - 9,400,000
Sold for HK$17,190,000
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21
David Hockney
Bridlington Violets
Estimate HK$10,000,000 - 15,000,000
Sold for HK$12,350,000
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22
Léonard-Tsuguharu Foujita
Self-Portrait with a Cat
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$5,292,000
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23
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24
Sanyu
Paysage Aux Hirondelles
Estimate HK$26,000,000 - 46,000,000
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25
Zao Wou-Ki
Sans titre ("Notre Dame")
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Sold for HK$10,051,000
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26
Zao Wou-Ki
Brume d’automne
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27
Auguste Rodin
Le Baiser, 1ère réduction dite aussi "réduction n°1"
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28
Zao Wou-Ki
20.3.64.
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29
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30
Alexander Calder
Two Red Petals in the Air
Estimate HK$16,000,000 - 20,000,000
Sold for HK$20,820,000
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31
Claude Monet
Pavots dans un vase de Chine
Estimate HK$9,500,000 - 15,000,000
Sold for HK$13,560,000
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32
Georges Mathieu
Saxifrage
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000
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33
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34
Huang Yuxing
Floating Bubbles
Estimate HK$1,800,000 - 2,800,000
Sold for HK$2,772,000
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35
Zhou Chunya
Smell the Flowers
Estimate HK$5,000,000 - 7,000,000
Sold for HK$6,905,000
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36
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37
Liu Ye
Flagship No. 2
Estimate HK$2,000,000 - 3,000,000
Sold for HK$5,922,000
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38
Wang Xingwei
Untitled (Heart-Shaped Dance)
Estimate HK$2,800,000 - 4,800,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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39
Liu Ye
Untitled
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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40
Liu Wei
You Like Smoking?
Estimate HK$3,000,000 - 5,000,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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41
Izumi Kato
Untitled
Estimate HK$4,500,000 - 7,500,000
Sold for HK$11,745,000
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42
Yoshitomo Nara
Pandora's Box
Estimate HK$7,500,000 - 10,000,000
Sold for HK$13,560,000
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43
George Condo
The Dreamer
Estimate HK$4,600,000 - 6,200,000
Sold for HK$11,140,000
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44
George Condo
Entangled Figures
Estimate HK$6,200,000 - 9,200,000
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45
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46
KAWS
NEW YORK
Estimate HK$4,000,000 - 6,000,000
Sold for HK$5,040,000
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47
KAWS
FINAL DAYS
Estimate HK$6,200,000 - 8,200,000
Sold for HK$8,115,000
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48
Raymond Pettibon
Untitled (Force makes nature...)
Estimate HK$1,500,000 - 2,500,000
Sold for HK$3,906,000
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49
Robert Nava
Angel Shark
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 1,800,000
Sold for HK$4,410,000
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50
Susumu Kamijo
Marching To The Sun
Estimate HK$450,000 - 650,000
Sold for HK$2,142,000
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51
Jadé Fadojutimi
Fishing For Steps
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 2,200,000
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52
Mickalene Thomas
Looking Up from the She Works Hard For the Money Pin-Up series
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 2,000,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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53
Billie Zangewa
Cirque d'hiver
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$567,000
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54
Godwin Champs Namuyimba
The Connector
Estimate HK$200,000 - 400,000
Sold for HK$1,323,000
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55
Tunji Adeniyi-Jones
Blue Ancestor
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$1,071,000
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56
Tomoo Gokita
Final Confrontation
Estimate HK$1,200,000 - 2,200,000
Sold for HK$2,520,000
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57
Ewa Juszkiewicz
Appropriation
Estimate HK$400,000 - 600,000
Sold for HK$1,890,000
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58
Lucas Arruda
Untitled from the series Deserto-Modelo
Estimate HK$1,000,000 - 1,500,000
Sold for HK$3,780,000
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20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in...

Hong Kong Auction 30 November 2021

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Provenance

Exhibited

Ж38

Wang Xingwei

Untitled (Heart-Shaped Dance)

20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Association with Poly Auction

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