Friday in the atelier: "Miss Chen” by Yuqi Wang

It is somewhat difficult to find good digital images of Yuqi Wang’s artwork online, but this is understandable. As a Living Master he still retains copyright to the images he has created, and has limited access to these images. His work is in demand, and he deserves to be compensated for his efforts.

But Mr. Wang has been gracious enough to allow us to see high quality images of some of his best pieces, through the Art Renewal Center.

Today’s painting is called “Miss Chen” on Mr. Wang’s personal web site, but I believe that the better title is the one applied by the Art Renewal Center, “The Eye”. The expression exhibited in this painting is familiar to most guys who have ever been in a relationship. This is the look you get when you tell your sweetie that you’ve decided that a trip to Graceland would be a great second honeymoon. This is the look you get when you ask if a Black and Decker circular saw would be an acceptable anniversary present. This is the look you get when you assure her that you CAN fix that leaky faucet, and never mind the flooded basement that resulted from your last plumbing efforts.

As you could guess, gazing at this painting makes me dream up awkward scenarios so I can chuckle about them.

Perhaps Yuqi Wang’s more famous painting is “Girl in Summer” – which is cheerfully bright and elegantly somber. It is beautiful with fine details. You can see more of Mr. Wang’s works on his own web site, on the Art Renewal web site, or at "The Painter's Keys" web site.

From Mr. Wang’s online bio:

Yuqi Wang was trained in China and the US and is now based in New York. Among others, he is a member of The American Society of Portrait Artists, The Portrait Society of America and The Oil Painter Association of China and has exhibited extensively across China and America. His work hangs in public collections in China and the collection of the Japanese Royal Family. The influence of Rossetti and Burne-Jones is unmistakable, and in the tradition of the Pre-Raphaelites Yuqi manages to create work which is as sensitive as it is powerful.

“What draws me, as an artist, to put brush to canvas is at once both public and private. The world I reveal is a blend of both the ‘Occident’ and the ‘Orient’; my passion for both Classic European portraiture and the Pre-Raphaelite movement is gently kissed by my Chinese heritage. I find the classic styles to be timeless, with a warmth and honesty not offered any more with modern movements.”