Chen Yanning - Portrait of two black girls

Portrait of two black sisters by the Royal Portraitist Chen Yanning, dated February 1994.
 
Both the artist as well as the sitters of this magnificent portrait are from ethnic minorities. It's a sweet images with the two young sisters looking cheerfully at the viewer, with sparkling eyes and a big smile on their faces. They seem to be thrilled and excited to be posing for their portrait together. For the occasion, they are wearing two matching dresses with embroidered white collars and adorned their hair with a white ribbon. The portrait is housed in an opulent antique gilt frame with floral details.
 
Paintings by Yanning have been acquired by major museums and have been displayed in exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum, the Paris Salon, and many others around the world including Australia, Japan, Canada and Brazil. In 1999, he was commissioned to execute a formal portrait of her royal highness Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom. Yanning's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was so beautiful and liked that it was then selected as postage stamp to celebrated the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002.
 
Several paintings from Yanning have realised 6-figure auction prices, with the most expensive auctioned work being "New Wave" which sold for 754,124 euro (incl. premium) on December 3rd 2011.
 
The portrait is signed and dated "February 1994" in the left top.
 
Provenance;
The portrait was commissioned from Portraits Inc. on Park Avenue in NYC
Private collection USA
Private Collection Belgium
 
The canvas measures ca 32 by 25,5 inches and with the frame ca 39,5 by 33,5 inches.