For many great artists, their life is a great art-piece in itself.
And this is true with Shiming. He has a remarkable look but unfortunately got a little handicapped owing to a disease he suffered when he was a boy. However, he features sharp eyesight. He wore a face a bit longer than the normal, which looked especially so when he was a young man.
As I remember Liu used to be dressed up in black with his trousers bound tight, which made him different from his fellow students. He’s simple and frank, talking very little and easy to get along with. But when speaking of something mysterious, he would become excited at once and begin to talk a lot. And he liked to practice meditation and often did it at midnight when he was a student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Once a security patrol got startled when making a check in the dormitory in which he by chance bumped into Liu who sitting motionless yet with a pair of flashing eyes was doing his meditation in the dark.
The episode I mentioned here is to make a hint that Liu,s strong personality of being easy to believe and perseverance in the doing has finally led him onto a path full of difficulties and hardships in life.
Liu made his artistic talent show as early as when he was still a student in the academy. His graduation work “Measuring a piece of Land” stood out a winner in the contest held by the academy and was later collected by the National Museum of the former Republic of Czechslovakia. His work “Conducting Waters by Cutting Open Mountains” is a masterpiece that extols the heroic spirit of the Chinese people in the newly established People’s Republic. I believe these are some of the works to be put into the history of Chinese sculptural art.
Before the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Liu went to central China’s Henan Province owing to his obsession in traditional and folk arts. And he spent 18 years there. He worked in a couple of institutions including Kaifeng Teachers College, Zhengzhou Museum, Hebei Baoding Culture Center for the Masses of People and Museum of Chinese History. He retired in advance due to his health problem in 1974 and finally returned to settle down in Beijing.
At that time, the Pottery and Ceramics Studio of the Central Academy of Fine Arts was reopened. Despite the poor working conditions in the studio, Liu has at least found a place to exercise his talents and carry on with his artistic career, thereby churning out a surprisingly large number of masterpieces.
I believe that a real fine artwork does not need any interpretation. Judging from Liu’s works, I would like to come to a conclusion that, like all other great masters in art history, Liu benefited from his past experiences and it was the hardships and setbacks he once endured that rendered his unique art possible.
It’s because of the fact that he left the academy earlier than many other fellow students that prevented him from being heavily influenced by the rigid training style taken over from the former Soviet Union into China’s art academies at that time.
As a result, neither too many emphases on anatomical precision nor too much stress on realistic portrayal in the academy’s training courses could hamper Liu’s artistic achievement in creation.
It is because of his intimacy with the people at grass-root level that made it possible for him to have got a better observation and understanding of farmers.
Living among them, Liu learned to dig deep into social reality from their point of view and that is why Liu has never failed to bring to life his ardent love and sympathy for farmers in his sculptural works. Having them taken to heart he has them brought out as what we see in actual life.
Traveling a lot helps Liu to fully expose himself to all types of traditional and folk arts in China’s rural areas. In particular, Liu learned from clay figures of the Han Dynasty, an unrestrained creative approach. He also inherited from ancient craftsmen the spirit of simplicity and straightforwardness in artistic creation.
In our age ripped with different views and opinions, Liu’s art is a living testimony to “what is real art” and how real art is created. Let’s bow before him and give him a high appraisal of his art.
And this is true with Shiming. He has a remarkable look but unfortunately got a little handicapped owing to a disease he suffered when he was a boy. However, he features sharp eyesight. He wore a face a bit longer than the normal, which looked especially so when he was a young man.
As I remember Liu used to be dressed up in black with his trousers bound tight, which made him different from his fellow students. He’s simple and frank, talking very little and easy to get along with. But when speaking of something mysterious, he would become excited at once and begin to talk a lot. And he liked to practice meditation and often did it at midnight when he was a student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Once a security patrol got startled when making a check in the dormitory in which he by chance bumped into Liu who sitting motionless yet with a pair of flashing eyes was doing his meditation in the dark.
The episode I mentioned here is to make a hint that Liu,s strong personality of being easy to believe and perseverance in the doing has finally led him onto a path full of difficulties and hardships in life.
Liu made his artistic talent show as early as when he was still a student in the academy. His graduation work “Measuring a piece of Land” stood out a winner in the contest held by the academy and was later collected by the National Museum of the former Republic of Czechslovakia. His work “Conducting Waters by Cutting Open Mountains” is a masterpiece that extols the heroic spirit of the Chinese people in the newly established People’s Republic. I believe these are some of the works to be put into the history of Chinese sculptural art.
Before the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Liu went to central China’s Henan Province owing to his obsession in traditional and folk arts. And he spent 18 years there. He worked in a couple of institutions including Kaifeng Teachers College, Zhengzhou Museum, Hebei Baoding Culture Center for the Masses of People and Museum of Chinese History. He retired in advance due to his health problem in 1974 and finally returned to settle down in Beijing.
At that time, the Pottery and Ceramics Studio of the Central Academy of Fine Arts was reopened. Despite the poor working conditions in the studio, Liu has at least found a place to exercise his talents and carry on with his artistic career, thereby churning out a surprisingly large number of masterpieces.
I believe that a real fine artwork does not need any interpretation. Judging from Liu’s works, I would like to come to a conclusion that, like all other great masters in art history, Liu benefited from his past experiences and it was the hardships and setbacks he once endured that rendered his unique art possible.
It’s because of the fact that he left the academy earlier than many other fellow students that prevented him from being heavily influenced by the rigid training style taken over from the former Soviet Union into China’s art academies at that time.
As a result, neither too many emphases on anatomical precision nor too much stress on realistic portrayal in the academy’s training courses could hamper Liu’s artistic achievement in creation.
It is because of his intimacy with the people at grass-root level that made it possible for him to have got a better observation and understanding of farmers.
Living among them, Liu learned to dig deep into social reality from their point of view and that is why Liu has never failed to bring to life his ardent love and sympathy for farmers in his sculptural works. Having them taken to heart he has them brought out as what we see in actual life.
Traveling a lot helps Liu to fully expose himself to all types of traditional and folk arts in China’s rural areas. In particular, Liu learned from clay figures of the Han Dynasty, an unrestrained creative approach. He also inherited from ancient craftsmen the spirit of simplicity and straightforwardness in artistic creation.
In our age ripped with different views and opinions, Liu’s art is a living testimony to “what is real art” and how real art is created. Let’s bow before him and give him a high appraisal of his art.