Jiannan Huang - A Lifetime of Art

by: James Zeffirelli

As an accomplished artist and scientist, Jiannan Huang brings a modernistic view of the world with his paintings. While many of his paintings are based on the beauty of landscapes and nature, he often takes the reality of what he sees, and creates his own interpretation in an abstract manner. He enjoys doing paintings of outer space and the unknown parts of the world, which are influenced by his academic background in technology and love of the supernatural and science fiction.

His artistic style, which has roots in the ancient and traditional methods of Chinese ink and oil painting, is typically full of vibrant colors and powerful strokes. These lay a foundation of texture that can depict snow-capped mountains, stormy oceans, flowers in garden, stars in the sky, or even soft winds, or other elements that he wishes to emphasize. Water, earth, air and fire are common philosophical elements that he chooses to represent by their characteristic colors and textures, delivering a dimension of naturalism to his art.

Jiannan was for many years a nomadic artist who traveled on foot across thousands of miles of China, which still influences his art and depiction of subject matter. He is self-taught as he did not receive a formal education in art, yet mastered the skills of painting and color at a young age. While realism and traditional techniques have been prevalent in the arts throughout history, Jiannan likes to create new techniques, and create his own styles based on mixing modern styles with ancient traditions.

According to Jiannan, "If an artist simply mimics the work of great masters, his own artwork will simply be a repeat. The nature of art is to be original and creative. But this talent must be based on hard work and persistence."

It is evident that Jiannan's hard work and persistence, as well as creating his own original style, have earned him great success. He is one of the top artists in China as well as the rest of the world, with expertise in both oil painting and Chinese ink. He has been on the "Hurun Art List" for many years and remains one of the most respected and highly rewarded artists on their lists. Jiannan's paintings sell at high prices, and are increasingly being sought out by collectors and museums internationally. His paintings sell at prices as high as $1 million dollars and are often featured at art auctions who track the selling prices of art work.