Liu Qinghe

signed QINGHE, dated 2006.4.25, and with four seals of the artist

China, Beijing, Today Art Museum, Liu Qinghe, 23 September - 8 October, 2007
United Kingdom, London, Saatchi Gallery, Ink: The Art of China, 19 June - 5 July, 2012, p. 53

Liu Qinghe: Beyond the Bank, Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House, Chengdu, China, 2007, p. 65
Kuo, Jason C., Chinese Ink Painting Now, Distributed Art Publishers, New York, USA; Timezone 8, Hong Kong, China, 2010, p.174

Overall in very good condition. This work is temporarily framed for exhibition display - 364 x 115 cm; 143 1/4 x 45 1/4 in.
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Recognized as a leading figure painter in China, Liu Qinghe is renowned for his deeply psychological portraits of figures from everyday China. Against the backdrop of rapid industrialization and a modernized consumer society, Liu's ink portraits are sobering and introspective depictions of each subject's feeling of insecurity, confusion, isolation, or helplessness. Each image expresses the universal concerns of his generation, which has been forced to grapple with stark challenges of a culturally and economically transformed society. His figures' stoic facial expressions create a startling barrier with the viewer, while at the same time revealing a commonplace gaze. The Beautiful Water series (Lot 571) is a poignant depiction of women swimming and freely floating in a tranquil sea, a scene that seems to release the figures from the pressures and hardships of daily life.

Despite the harsh realities that Liu's figures face, he manages to provide a sense of hope in his skillful ink wash rendering and isolated compositions. Bathing in Wind (Lot 543) captures a haunting but poetic image of a nude figure lying in a cold moonless night. In such images, Liu uses a cheerful blue wash as a suggestion of water, and to enliven the image with a sense of freedom and possibility.

Born in Tianjin, Liu Qinghe graduated from the Tianjin Academy of Arts and Crafts in 1981 and later received graduate training from both the Folk Art Department and the Chinese Painting Department at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. He currently serves as Assistant Professor in the Chinese Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Liu's works are exhibited widely in China and abroad and are in the notable collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Spain, National Art Museum of China, Shanghai Art Museum, and Shenzhen Art Museum.