AIAA2010 will showcase the paintings of famous Chinese realism artist, Mr XU Weide. Xu is renowned for portrait and landscape paintings. His paintings are exquisite and delicate.
XU Weide, a Shanghai native, was born in 1951. Xu began to practice traditional Chinese painting at an early age under the instruction of Shen Yinmo, a renowned calligrapher and painter. While in his teens when the ‘cultural revolution’ (1966-76) began, Xu went to Anhui Province like most of his peers, in response to the government’s call for urban youths to toil the fields in rural and mountainous areas as a way to learn from the farmers and ‘gain practical experience’.
In 1973, Xu got an offer from Anhui Normal University. Upon his graduation from Anhui Normal University, Xu worked at his alma mater as a fine arts teacher. Later, he completed a postgraduate program at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. In 1998, Xu returned to Shanghai with his family.
Currently, Xu is a professor at the College of Art & Design and the vice president of the Shanghai University of Engineering Science. He is a member of several leading art organizations and institutes, including the China Artists Association, and is also a council member of the Shanghai Science & Art Institute and the general secretary of the Watercolor Painting Institute of Shanghai Artists Association.
His expertise and great devotion to the art have earned Xu many honors over the past 30 years. Favored by both experts and critics, his works have been exhibited overseas, including the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
For all his artistic achievements, Xu is never conceited. On the contrary, he gives off an aura of humbleness. Unlike some fickle-minded painters that seek only fame and fortune, Xu has put his life and heart into painting. He paints because it is his passion rather than as a way to earn money. For him, spiritual contentment is far more important than materialism. That is why he has worked as a teacher over the last 30 years. He spends most of his time creating pieces. Each series of his works typically takes him a few months or years to finish.
As a realism painter, most of Xu’s works feature beautiful landscapes, especially the rustic scenes of Anhui Province. Having lived there for nearly 30 years, Xu is familiar with every aspect of the environment around him, including the flowers, trees, rocks and creeks. He travels back at least twice a year with his students to do some outdoor sketches. |
