Confucio / 孔子: "Ciò che non vuoi che sia fatto a te, non farlo agli altri"

• "L'uomo superiore è calmo senza essere arrogante; l'uomo dappoco è arrogante senza essere calmo".

• "Ciò che non vuoi che sia fatto a te, non farlo agli altri".

• "Mettete la lealtà e la fiducia sopra ogni cosa; non accettate l'amicizia di chi vi è moralmente inferiore; non abbiate paura di correggere i vostri errori".

Wang Yiguang, 1962

Wang Yiguang / 王沂光 is a modern Chinese painter, notable for his Tibetan paintings of flying people, yaks and sheep.

Wang Yi Guang was born in Yimeng Mountain area of Shandong, China.

He is a younger brother of another notable painter, Wang Yidong (王沂东).

He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1990.

Cai Yushui / 蔡玉水, 1963

Nato a Jinan, provincia di Shandong, Cina, il pittore professionista Cai Yushui è vice preside dell'Accademia di pittura di Pechino, vice direttore del Comitato artistico ed artista nazionale.

Cai Yushui ha ottenuto risultati eccezionali in dipinti, sculture, film e dipinti cinesi con materiali integrati.

È uno degli artisti più completi della Cina contemporanea.

È specializzato nella pittura cinese con inchiostro, varietà pesante e schizzo, una tecnica pittorica utilizzata molto nell'estremo Oriente, in particolare in Cina e Giappone.

Zhao Xiaoli, 1990 | Pop Surrealist painter

Zhao Xiaoli 赵小黎 is a trend artist based in Xiamen who has attracted widespread attention on social media platforms both in China and internationally.

Using short video as an innovative way to communicate the creative process to a mass audience, she is the first female art influencer in the world to reach over 10 million followers.

Her work mostly explores the emotions and confusions of growing up as a woman, and seeks a unique form of self-expression through the fusion of oil painting and moving images.

Xing Jianjian, 1959 | Ballet dancers

Chinese painter Xing Jianjian / 邢健健 is from Nantong, in southeastern Jiangsu province.

In 1986, he graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts majoring in oil painting with a bachelor's degree and stayed on as a teacher there.

He is currently a professor and master tutor at the School of Fine Arts of Nanjing University of the Arts.

Jianjian is member of China Artists Association. Director of Jiangsu Oil Painting Society.

Lucia Heffernan, 1966

Da sempre amante degli animali, Lucia Heffernan - originaria di Taiwan -dipinge ritratti stravaganti di animali in scenari fin troppo umani.

L'artista ha ricevuto un BFA dalla Binghamton University nel 1989 ed i suoi dipinti ad olio dettagliati hanno attirato un seguito per il loro umorismo delicatamente satirico.

Le figure travestite ed antropomorfe di Heffernan provenienti da tutto il regno animale si dedicano spesso ad attività ricreative: nel punny Roller Chick (2020), un soffice uccello sfoggia pattini a rotelle in stile anni '80 e uno stereo.

Il lavoro di Heffernan strizza l'occhio anche ai giganti della storia dell'arte.

Wall Street Gothic (2020) raffigura un orso sorridente e un toro, i simboli dei cicli di boom e bust del mercato azionario, nello stile dell'iconico American Gothic di Grant Wood (1930).

Heffernan ha esposto in gallerie e fiere negli Stati Uniti ed a Hong Kong.

Yuan Xing Liang, 1973 | Surrealist sculptor

Yuan Xing Liang is a Chinese artist who creates amazing surrealistic clay sculptures. A graduate of Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Liang’s recent work is derived from ancient narratives. The sculptures combine elements of nature, animals, and architecture to create stunning 360-degree works of art.

The artist’s statues are inspired by traditional Chinese folklore.

Christopher Zhang, 1954 | Ballet dancers

Christopher Zhang is an realist painter born in Shanghai but now living and teaching art in the US since 1990.

- "As a professional artist, I have received the most institutional education and substantial training of painting in both China and the US.

In the last four decades, I have successfully developed my career and markets nationally and internationally through numerous exhibits and awards at home and abroad".

Je Shen, 1973 | Romantic Impressionist painter

Je Shen is a contemporary Chinese artist whose work fuses traditional East Asian landscape painting with European Impressionism.

His paintings are a 'melting pot' of styles and influences, creating a medium of artistic expression that cuts across cultures.

Calming scenes of cities and nature, adorned by exuberant spring blossoms or colorful autumn leaves, are recurring subjects in original paintings by Je Shen.

Victor Wang (Chinese painter, 1956)

Victor Sheng Wang è un pittore Cinese / Americano e professore di arti all'Università di Fontbonne.

Wang è nato a Qiqihar, in Cina dove ha completato il liceo, eccellendo nella creatività visiva.

Fu confinato con la forza dalla Rivoluzione Culturale maoista nella regione più settentrionale della Manciuria a coltivare campi di girasole per due anni e mezzo, dopodiché fu ammesso all'Accademia di Belle Arti Lu Xun (Shenyang, provincia di Liaoning) dove si laureò nel 1983.

Z.L. Feng, 1954 | Landscape / Figurative / Watercolor painter

Growing up in Shanghai, Feng began painting at age seven and never stopped, experimenting with different mediums, including pastel, oil, and egg tempera, before choosing his favorite, watercolor.

"With watercolor you cannot cover your mistakes, so you must know what you are doing", he says.

He finds inspiration for his lovely landscapes in the countryside of the New River Valley: "Usually I go around - to the river, the forest, the lake – to try and find interesting compositions".

Those familiar with Feng’s art are also captivated by his portraits of the people of Tibet, Native Americans of New Mexico, Southern farmers, and others.

Chen Yongle (Chinese painter, 1954)

Chen Yongle was born in the Yunan Province of China. He is currently the President of the Yunnan Research Institute of Fine Art, and is a member of various art organisations and committees including the Chinese Artists Association, the Chinese Graphic Artists Association, and the Association of the Artists of Chinese Craft and Art.

He is among the few contemporary Chinese printmakers who can claim a series of international exhibitions.

Ancient Buddhism and Buddhist Art

Buddha, Probably Amitabha Amituofo | Early 7th century | China | Metropolitan Museum of Art

The history of Buddhism spans from the 6th century BCE to the present. Buddhism arose in the eastern part of Ancient India, in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now in Bihar, India), and is based on the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama.

The religion evolved as it spread from the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent through Central, East, and Southeast Asia. At one time or another, it influenced most of the Asian continent.

The history of Buddhism is also characterized by the development of numerous movements, schisms, and schools, among them the Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna traditions, with contrasting periods of expansion and retreat.

Zhaoming Wu 吴兆铭, 1955

Zhaoming Wu 吴兆铭 is a Chinese-born painter. Wu grew up in Guangzhou City, China and he received his BFA from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and his MFA from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California.

Wu is known best for his figurative paintings. Inspired heavily by 19th century French painting🎨, Wu describes his work as "representational, but not traditional classical".

This can be seen, as Wu uses modern elements of graphic design in his work.

Shen Hanwu 沈漢武, 1950 | Genre painter

Shen Hanwu was born in Wuhan, Hubei province.

In the 1980s, he became famous as a book illustrator. In 1986, Shen entered Wuhan Art Academy and became a professional artist.

Throughout the 1990s his oil paintings were frequently exhibited in national fine art exhibitions and in 1995, Shen became a member of the Chinese National Artists Association.

Chen Huimin 陈慧敏, 1943 | Flowers painter

Chen Huiming 陈慧敏 is a Chinese painter🎨. In 1964 she graduated from the Beijing Institute of Arts and Design.

Chen Huiming is an outstanding representative of contemporary art.

For more than 30 years, she expresses in her works the beauty of flowers.

He Lihuai 何力怀, 1961 | Realist painter

Mr. He Lihuai 何力怀 - Chinese painter🎨 - was born in Chongqing. He worked as an art designer at Capital Museum from 1985-1996 after receiving Art of Bachelor degree in oil painting at Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in 1984.

As a member of Chinese Artists Association and a professional artist.

He has been honored as a very talented oil painter in contemporary China.

Chen Yifei (1946-2005) | Music Player painting

Chen's works considered a unique combination of both Western and Eastern influences. Chen's style combines the realism associated with European art styles, with Eastern subject matter and themes close to the artist's history.

One such example of this unique blend is his painting Poppy which derives its content from a Tang dynasty song about a woman who solemnly questions her fate.

Liu Maoshan, 1942 | Modern impressionist painter

Liu Maoshan is a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu province. He is now vice-president of the Suzhou Chinese Painting Academy and a member of Chinese Artists Associations. He is rated as a national first class artist.

He was graduated from the Suzhou Institute of Arts and Crafts in 1962.

Having mastered a solid and intensive understanding of the works of classical European masters and modern impressionism, he later changed his interest to the creation of Chinese landscape painting.

Cao Yong, 1962 | Tibet painter

Chinese artist Cao Yong 曹勇 spent a year alone in the mountains of Tibet, and the paintings he produced were exhibited in Beijing in early 1989.

Cao Yong's canvases evoke the essence of some of the most delightful places on earth. Although Cao Yong was formally educated in China, the artist achieved maturity during seven years of self-exile in Tibet.

Then he left for Japan, where he quickly became that nation's most honored muralist. Later, he immigrated to America, in this nation know for her freedom of expression, Cao Yong has transferred to an artist who dedicates to the love of nature and passion for life through artwork.