Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi re-creates Van Gogh in stirring exhibition

It’s hard to imagine that any artist would take on the daunting task of re-inventing some of Vincent Van Gogh’s most iconic self-portraits and paintings. But in a new exhibition opening Friday in Amsterdam, one of China’s best known contemporary artists, Zeng Fanzhi, has done just that, and in a unique fusion presents a series of striking paintings that lend fresh energy and vibrancy to the Dutch artist’s works. “Many of the works by Vincent Van Gogh have become so iconic that you always feel that you know them, and we tend not really to look at them anymore,” said Axel Rueger, the director of the Van Gogh museum. “That an artist really dares to enter into that confrontation again, and look at Vincent’s work afresh, and … do his own thing with it. That is for us of course, really interesting and really inspiring,” he told AFP at a press preview on Thursday. For the exhibition “Zeng Fanzhi/Van Gogh” which runs until February 25, the Chinese artist has recreated six masterpieces b