. Bm, The Artist
ES) tus 7 Madam Li Yuen Sheng was born in the city of Tient-
. —— sin in Hopei, China in 1924. Her interest in painting :
‘| oa = : rank. began in early childhood, and she studied under Mr.
4" ‘ eee sn) Chen Shao Mei, an accomplished artist before graduat-
ee ae. ss & re ing from Peking’s Central Academy of Arts in 1950.
ii He cD Milena 5 Subsequently she worked as a graphic designer, but
: A Mee ee her reputation as an artist spread quickly, and in 1959
= > SS she was elected a member of the Chinese Painting
occ | "is Research Institute.
nab wey ~—CThe paintings in this book bear the most recent wit-
é.2 ~— <a ie ness to her excellence in the traditional Gongbi painting
poe school style. They are the culmination of a remarkable
career, during which her paintings were highly
acclaimed by the celebrated Chinese artist Xu Bei Hong
and extensively exhibited by the Chinese Government
both inside and outside of China. When she left China |
for Hong Kong in 1979, she was unable to take any of |
her paintings with her, because by that time they were |
considered part of the Chinese Art Treasury. Since
then, the Hong Kong public has enjoyed exhibitions of
her paintings at Shatin Municipal Hall and Star House at
Tsim Sha Tsui. Her work has also been the topic of
several newspaper and magazine articles.
The Gongbi style is very intricate in its finely detailed
depiction of Chinese figures and scenery, as can be
seen from the meticulous care and labor in Madam Li’s
work. It is only after a lifetime of practice and experi-
ence that she has acquired such a skillful hand. Now
she is dedicating much of her time to teaching students
who are interested in learning and preserving this fine
painting tradition of which she is one of the few remain-
ing masters.
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