The Spring Is Coming was created by Yuan Qingyi in 1984. Like the active young artists and intellectuals during that era, Yuan loved to read, reflect, and form associations. Along with his like-minded friends they founded the Hunan Leishi Oil Painting Society in 1982.

The Spring Is Coming made its debut at the Advancing Chinese Youth Fine Art Exhibition taking place at the National Art Museum of China in 1985, which stirred up heated discussions within the art world. The subject in the painting does not face the spectator directly. By following the eyesight of the protagonist, it draws the spectator into the depths of the painting – to a larger and infinite space. It leads the spectator to read the details of the work and expand their thinking. Yuan Qingyi recalls creating this work: “I only titled it The Spring Is Coming at a later stage. I didn’t think too much of it when I started painting. I just wanted to capture the right feeling, and express my feelings towards art and life through the painting. At the time, I was very fond of reading philosophical literature, such as Sartre’s books on existentialism, which emphasized the existence of the individual and personal expression. These two aspects had a great impact on me. Therefore when I create, I always begin with myself and think more on my own needs and what kind of feeling I’m trying to get. My work needs to be calm, and has to have a subject. The subject is me, the center of the painting, and this self-existence is also what Sartre has always emphasized. ”

(Edited by Lijie Wang & Miao Zijin, 2019)