Ai Weiwei
History of Bombs
2020
Digital print (Print-Multiple)
50 × 70 cm
Ed. /200
Location: Paris, France
Documents
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Invoice or proof of purchase
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Certificate of authenticity
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Other documents
About the artwork
Ai Weiwei’s “History of Bombs” is a visually striking and politically charged digital print that catalogues a wide array of aerial bombs used throughout modern warfare. Presented on a stark black background, the work arranges dozens of bomb forms in clean, technical silhouettes, each identified by name or model. The cold precision of the renderings echoes the clinical detachment with which destructive technology is often discussed, transforming weapons of mass devastation into objects of unsettling formal beauty.
The print highlights Ai Weiwei’s ongoing engagement with themes of violence, power and state control. By presenting weapons as an orderly inventory, he confronts viewers with the normalization of military force and the hidden systems that shape global conflict. The piece is both archival and accusatory, inviting reflection on humanity’s long and troubling relationship with warfare.
Expert opinion
“History of Bombs” is widely considered one of Ai Weiwei’s most incisive graphic works of recent years. The print distills the artist’s critical voice into a format that is simultaneously accessible and conceptually powerful. Its documentary aesthetic recalls institutional displays found in military museums, yet Ai Weiwei subverts that neutrality by exposing the scale and variety of instruments designed for destruction.
As an edition of 200, this signed print holds strong appeal for collectors seeking politically relevant contemporary art. Its importance is amplified by the global debates surrounding war, surveillance and state violence, which continue to define Ai Weiwei’s practice. The work stands as a poignant and timely reminder of the human cost embedded in technologies we too often regard with detachment.
About the artist
Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) is one of the most influential contemporary artists and activists of our time. Born in Beijing, he is the son of the celebrated poet Ai Qing, who was persecuted during the Anti-Rightist Movement, leading the family to spend years in forced exile in remote regions of China. This early experience of oppression and censorship profoundly shaped Ai Weiwei’s artistic and political consciousness.
Ai studied animation at the Beijing Film Academy before becoming a founding member of the avant-garde Stars Art Group in 1979, a movement that openly challenged artistic restrictions in post-Mao China. In 1981 he moved to New York, where he absorbed Western art movements—particularly conceptual art, minimalism, and the work of artists like Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, and Jasper Johns. He returned to China in the early 1990s and quickly established himself as a central figure in the country’s contemporary art scene.
His multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, installation, photography, architecture, social media, and filmmaking. Ai is known for transforming everyday materials—Lego bricks, porcelain, bicycles, wood, found objects—into powerful reflections on identity, history, human rights, and state control. Major projects such as Sunflower Seeds (Tate Modern), Straight (about the Sichuan earthquake), and his global refugee-focused installations have cemented his reputation as an artist unafraid to confront political power.
Ai Weiwei’s outspoken criticism of the Chinese government led to his arrest, imprisonment, and surveillance in 2011, events that further heightened his international prominence. Since leaving China, he has lived and worked in Berlin, Cambridge (UK), and Portugal while continuing his global advocacy for freedom of expression and humanitarian issues.
His work is held in the world’s most important museums, including the Tate, MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Hirshhorn, and the Centre Pompidou. Ai Weiwei's practice exists at the intersection of art and activism, making him a defining voice in contemporary global culture.
Additional info
Signed
3x
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