Artist of the Day, April 23, 2026 : Zhang Xiaogang, a Chinese painter (#2508)

Zhang Xiaogang (1958) is a contemporary Chinese symbolist and surrealist painter. Paintings in his Bloodline series are predominantly monochromatic, stylized portraits of Chinese people, usually with large, dark-pupiled eyes, posed in a stiff manner deliberately reminiscent of family portraits from the 1950s and 1960s. 

Recently, he also created sculptures, translating for the first time into three dimensions many characters of the sort seen in his "Bloodlines—Big Family" portrait series. These sculptures have featured in many exhibits and continue his work as one of China's leading, and most highly sought-after, contemporary artists. 

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Zhang Xiaogang or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Zhang Xiaogang

Eternal Love, 1988

Rite of Spring, 1989

New Year's Eve, 1990

Bloodline: Big Family, 1992

Bloodline: Big Family, 1993

Bloodline: Big Family, 1993

Bloodline: Yellow Baby Girl, 1996

Bloodline: Big Family Nº.3, 1996

Bloodline: Big Family Nº. 9, 1996

Amnesia and Memory Nº. 16, 2002

The Son, 2005

Amnesia and Memory: Boy with Closed Eyes, 2006

Bloodline: Big Family, 2006

The Big Family (five works), 2006

Green Wall: Room with Flashlight, 2008

Escaped from the Shadows, 2009

Lamp Noº. 3, 2009

Red Baby, 2009

Train Window: The Lonely Violin, 2010

My Mother, 2012

Child-Sailor, 2013

Black Stone, 2014

Blindfolded Dancer, 2015

Boy Nº. 1 (With Hands), 2015

The Order of the World, 2016

Bathtub, 2017

Bathtub, 2018

Jump Nº. 1, 2018

Role Nº. 12, 2021

Bloodline series: the big family, 2020

Light Nº. 6, 2022

Father and Daughter, 2024