Wenyi Zhu "A Furry Friend" Oil on Canvas, Figurative Portrait Painting in Red, Texas Art, Original 24 X 24 Inches, Statement Artwork, 2023

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In this figurative portrait in oil on canvas by Texas painter Wenyi Zhu, a girl with straight black hair falling … Read more In this figurative portrait in oil on canvas by Texas painter Wenyi Zhu, a girl with straight black hair falling past her shoulders wears a cream beret with golden-brown bear ears and a red polo shirt with a crisp collar. A worn teddy bear rests in the lower corner of the canvas, held loosely against her. Her expression is level and a little wary. Behind her is a pale, dusty rose ground, almost the color of her skin, so the red of the shirt becomes the loudest thing in the picture. The skin is smooth and finely glazed, the bear softer and more worn, and the contrast says something about what a child holds on to.

The warm rose and red ask for a quiet setting: a bedroom, a hallway or a study with walnut, cream and muted green. It also works as one of a pair or a group with other square portraits. Painted edges allow it to hang unframed, and the size is easy to place. The red also looks good beside rust, olive or deep teal textiles if the room is warmer.

Oil on Canvas, 24 x 24 x 1.6 in (61.0 × 61.0 cm). Unframed, with painted edges.

Wenyi Zhu works in oil with a traditional multi-layered technique, building each canvas from a grisaille underpainting through successive transparent glazes. The result is a soft, luminous surface with smooth transitions and quiet depth. It is unframed, with painted edges, and ships ready to hang or to be framed to suit.

Wenyi Zhu (b. 1981, Suzhou, China) is a figurative painter based in College Station, Texas, whose work explores the human figure as both a physical and a psychological presence. Introduced to image-making by her grandfather, a Chinese calligrapher, she later earned a PhD in environmental science from Rutgers University, a background that shows in the patient structure of each composition. Working in oil with a traditional multi-layered technique rooted in Renaissance and French academic painting, she builds each canvas from a grisaille underpainting through successive transparent glazes, and her quiet portraits of women and children are known for their soft, luminous finish. See less