Yue Minjun's satirical manner is personified in ‘Ingres and I’. The artist's signature laughing figure, with its pink flesh tones and frozen grin, becomes a vessel for cultural complexity. By appropriating and transforming Western art historical references, herewith Ingres's Neoclassical style, Yue presents a critique on the intersection of Eastern and Western artistic traditions. The almost hyperreal rendering of his self-portrait figure contrasting with more stylised elements of the composition captures the technical precision that typifies his work.

Here, we witness Yue's evolution from a simple repetition of the laughing motif to a more nuanced exploration of cultural identity and artistic authority. The humour in his work serves as a trojan horse for deeper criticism of contemporary society, while the technical execution demonstrates his dexterity in traditional and contemporary printing techniques. Its significance lies in its ability to function simultaneously as critique and celebration, maintaining a delicate balance between reverence for artistic tradition and subversive commentary on cultural appropriation.

Ingres and I is a notable piece within Yue Minjun's Snatched Ecstasy collection, which comprises 20 lithographs housed in a brushed aluminium case accompanied by poems from the celebrated poet Fernando Arrabal. Yue's approach to art involves a unique method of addition and subtraction, where he modifies familiar elements from art history to evoke new emotional responses. Yue explains, "At first, I thought an artist always added things to a canvas but didn't remove anything, but if a part of a picture that is familiar to everyone is changed, it produces a special feeling. You establish a contrast. And force viewers to think about the figures." This technique is evident in Ingres and I, where he reinterprets the classical with a modern twist.

Yue Minjun's art, particularly in Ingres and I, synthesises Eastern philosophical ethos with Western art historical references, creating a dialogue between different cultural perspectives. His figures, often depicted in a state of ecstatic laughter, serve as a critique of both the seriousness of art and the human condition, reflecting a balance between the absurd and the profound. The present work reflects Yue Minjun's ability to blend humour with deep philosophical enquiry, using art historical references to challenge and engage the viewer in contemplating existence through a lens of modern-day anxiety and Eastern thought.