Ai Weiwei - Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn

A famous photographic work by AI WEIWEI is proposed, one of the major Chinese artists: painter, architect, photographer, filmmaker, political activist; son of the renowned Chinese poet Ai Qing. It is a two-photo suite format 29x21 cm, signed in the bottom right, titled "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn", where the artist is depicted in the sequence holding in his hand an ancient Han Dynasty urn and in the next image showing the urn shattered on the ground. The work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and by 20 of the famous porcelain sunflower seeds, handmade and hand-painted, drawn from the 2010 installation at the Tate Modern in London of a total of 100 million seeds.

Ai Weiwei, a leading figure in the world of contemporary art, was born in Beijing in 1957 where he trained artistically at the Film Academy studying Animation and participated in the Stars Avant-Garde Group. In 1981 he moved to the United States where he began a course at the Art Students League of New York. In 1993 he returned to Beijing. He has carried out many important architectural projects, notably the Beijing National Stadium in collaboration with the renowned Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron, and the Serpentine Pavilion in Hyde Park in London. In 2011, in conflict with the Chinese political authorities, he was arrested and his Shanghai studio demolished. A global campaign prompted the authorities to release him after three months, but his passport was only returned to him in 2015. He then moved to Berlin and subsequently to Cambridge and Italy, with an important show at Palazzo Strozzi. In 2017 he produced an interesting documentary that was presented at the Venice Film Festival. His activity continues with conviction, thus confirming his worldwide fame.

The work, in excellent condition, well packed, will be shipped via Poste Italiane.