Ding Yanyong

Hailed as “Matisse of the East” and “Bada Shanren of Modern Times”, Ding Yanyong was a pioneer in introducing modern Western art into China and a leading figure in the renewal of the ancient China tradition for modern expression. His creative works in oil and ink cross the boundaries of Chinese and Western art to achieve a personal synthesis of the two great artistic traditions.

Ding Yanyong, born on 15 April 1902, was a native of Mourning, Guangdong province. He was among the first Chinese artists who went to Japan to study Western painting in the early decades of the twentieth century. He attended Japan’s most prestigious art school, the Tokyo School of Fine Arts, between 1919 and 1925 and developed into an accomplished painter of the Fauvist and Expressionist styles. Upon his return to China, he became a pioneer in the New Art Movement to promote modern Western art in China and to reform traditional Chinese art. As a leading art educator, he taught Western painting in the art academies in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing. In 1949 he moved to Hong Kong, where he continued to engage in teaching and creative work until his death in 1978. He was one of the founders of the Fine Arts Department of New Asia College in 1957, which was incorporated into The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1963. Exhibitions of his work were held in China prior to 1949 and subsequently in Hong Kong and many countries around the world.

It was around 1929 that Ding discovered the intellectual depth and expressive beauty of the Chinese literati and individualist traditions. Since that time he embarked upon a long journey to synthesize Chinese and Western art by delving deeply into the native tradition, studying and collecting ancient calligraphy, painting and archaeological artifacts, and in particular the works of Bada Shanren of the seventeenth century and archaic seals. Renowned as an artist proficient in both oil and ink media, Ding was also noted for his innovative style in the traditional art-form of seal carving in his late years. Profoundly influenced by Bada Shanren, Ding was particularly recognized for his paintings of flowers and birds and figures executed in a simple, naïve and expressive style. His involvement in traditional painting invariably transformed his oils, giving them greater calligraphic rhythm and boldness in conception.