The Veryl Goodnight Gallery in Mancos hosts the works of impressionist painters Huihan Liu and Weizhen Liang, who received their training in Western art while living in China.
The couple’s work will be exhibited from Thursday, July 6, to Saturday, July 29.
Fine Art Services called Huihan’s paintings “impressionistic realism, a combination of primary field study and reference, focused on compositional arrangement, color, design, accurate detail, spontaneous brushstrokes and texture.”
His character studies reflect an attention to gesture and atmosphere.
A reception is planned for 4-6 p.m. on Sunday, July 23.
Huihan’s journey to the United States started in rural Guangzhou, China, where he was born in 1952. As a child, he saved enough money for a small sketchbook.
“It was just a little piece of a sketchbook, but I was so happy to have it,” he told Art of the West magazine. “I would draw on it and then erase it, so that I could draw on it again. I drew on that paper over and over again.”
Huihan also filled his textbooks with drawings, and as many scraps of paper as he could find.
“If I’m not drawing something, I feel like something is lacking,” he told Art of the West. “I’m not competitive about it. I just love to do it. I have always loved sketchbooks and drawing; all I need is paper and a pencil.”
He completed his art training at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art with bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1975 and taught at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts from 1979 to 1987. He was accepted by the graduate school of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art in 1985.
Influenced by 19th century French and Russian artists who taught in China during the 1950s, he adapted the work of Naturalists who painted scenes from everyday life, according to Fine Art Services. He soon took his art on the road, creating artistic bridges among various cultures.
He moved to the United States in 1987 to continue his study, graduating from the Academy of Art College in San Francisco with an master’s degree in fine arts in 1993 and made the Bay Area his home. His wife, Weizhen Liang, of the California Art Club, also will show paintings at the Mancos exhibit. She too attended school in the Guangzhou area.
Huihan’s work has won Best of Show awards in the Western Rendezvous of Art, a gold medal for Best Painting in the California Art Club’s 92nd juried exhibition, a gold medal at the Oil Painters of America’s Western show. Huihan’s work has been featured in publications such as Art of The West, Southwest Art, The International Artists and The Artist’s Magazine.
The Veryl Goodnight Gallery is at 106 Grand Ave., in Mancos.