This exhibition project of Zeng Fanzhi in Louvre Museum in 2014 came from a meeting in Hong Kong between Zeng and Henri Loyrette - then the director of Louvre Museum. They were congenial to share a vision of organizing an exhibition together to encourage more discussions about "classical art and contemporary art". Soon after that, the artist created From 1830 till Now from No.1 to No.4 - a set of four individual pieces for this exhibition. Finally the No.4 was elaborately selected to be displayed in Denon Hall  which dedicates to Romanticist art. The No.4 was juxtaposed with Eugène Delacroix’s Liberté guidant le people and other masterpieces of romanticism profoundly presenting dialogues between east and west, contemporary art and classical art. Only the No.4 had been exhibited in Louvre Museum, the remaining three from the series  had never been away from the artist and exposed to the public.  Being a precious opportunity, ZENG FANZHI THE LOUVRE PROJECT in ShanghART Beijing shows the entire series  of From 1830 till Now. This is the first time for these four works to be shown together in one exhibition. Audiences can deeply feel the dynamic evolution of a creative thought in every stage of creation, how the artist continued to break through and present us his in-depth contemplation on themes such as “dialogue between classicism and contemporary”, history, time and freedom.  

From 1830 till Now is a set of four individual pieces, all of the 4 pictures from No. 1 to No. 4 are based on Liberté guidant le people, but in different editions and variations, which shows Zeng's thinking and interactions toward art history as a contemporary artist. Zeng first saw the coloured illustration of Liberté guidant le people in a school textbook in the mid-1980s. He remained deeply fascinated with the piece throughout his school days and, when visiting the Louvre for the first time some 10 years later, in 1995, he found the original Liberté guidant le people  the most striking  artwork in the museum. Throughout the years, Zeng's affection to Liberté has stayed true, he is always fascinated by the complex, epical composition and the intense emotional charge in the colours and brush strokes, but it was the striking image of the nude Liberty in the piece that affected him the most. The free use of the body to express her impassioned feelings, the most consummate apotheosis of "liberty", resonated deeply with Zeng's conscious pursuit for "creative freedom" in his youth, this is the foundation of all Zeng's works today. From 1830 till Now could be regarded as a significant signpost in Zeng's oeuvre , offering us a fresh approach for interpreting his works.