Picture of the Day: The great wall from China

“Head of an Old Man” (Getty Images)

Its simple name – "Head of an Old Man" – offers no hint of the scale or the mood of doom that so define this painting by Zeng Fanzhi, seen here standing in front of his epic work as his first solo British exhibition opens at the Gagosian Gallery in London, running until 19 January.

Like many of his paintings, this grand oil on canvas, measuring 4m tall and 4m wide, features reeds, twigs and branches that scar and abstract the image in a dense mixture of bright colours and dark spidery lines. Born in Wuhan, China in 1964, Zeng Fanzhi – who now lives and works in Beijing – is one of his country's best-known contemporary artists.