-Contains a stunning array of previously unpublished material, including
a new essay on the life and work of Liu Dan -Beautifully bound in cloth
with embossed artist signature Liu Dan is one of twenty-first-century
China's leading artists. Born in 1953 in one of China's ancient
capitals, Nanjing, he received his school education from the then
recently-established People's Republic of China. His academic training
was based on Western methods, while at home his grandfather taught him
the traditional art of calligraphy. In the early 1980s he moved to
America, returning to Beijing in 2005. As a result, he has lived his
whole life passing between the discordant worlds of East and West. His
familiarity with both sides of the Pacific filters into his art,
although they are not necessarily emphasized. For example, the
exhibition featured in this book focuses on Dan's response to the
Italian Renaissance. It is particularly fitting that Dan should choose
the Ashmolean to host his works. The Ashmolean houses one of the world's
finest collections of Old Master drawings, and a selection of Italian
metalpoint drawings from the collection is included in his exhibition.
Liu Dan is also an international artist whose work has been exhibited
across China, America and Europe. The museums and galleries that have
displayed his work are not limited to those with a history of showing
Chinese or Asian art, but also include those that specialize in
contemporary art. In the thriving public and private global markets for
contemporary Chinese art there are few artists, and still fewer
painters, who are active so successfully across so many contexts. Liu
Dan is a painter whose equal facility with classical and modern China
sets him apart. Contents: Director's Foreword; Introduction; Nanjing;
Artistic Lineage; Education and Early Career; Rocks, Rock Paintings and
the Literati Tradition; Liu Dan and the Masters 1: Ni Zan (1301-1374);
Materials and Techniques; Liu Dan and the Masters 2: Raphael
(1483-1520); Rocks and Landscapes; Catalogue; Notes; Chronology; Further
Reading; Acknowledgements.
