Leng Hong
Introduction
Leng Hong is a celebrated Chinese-French artist acclaimed for his exquisitely textured oil paintings, imbued with rich colours, and ‘mysterious’ feelings. His oeuvre varies in subject matter, from landscape and still life scenes to portraits of ladies in waiting from the Tang and Song Dynasties. Born in 1955 Shanghai, he graduated from the Shanghai Institute of Theatre and Dramatic Arts in 1978. While at the institute he learned to paint in the Academic European tradition and became adept in perspective, chiaroscuro, modelling, and social realism. He also studied traditional Chinese brush and ink painting, and was particularly drawn to Tang and Northern Song landscape paintings. In 1986 after moving to Bordeaux, France, he began experimenting with different styles, seeking ways in which to draw aesthetic inspiration from both traditions. He currently resides in Shanghai, China and Montreal, Canada, and is an adjunct professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Shanghai University.
Alisan Fine Arts first showed his works in the landmark exhibition A State of Transition: Contemporary Paintings from Shanghai at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1987. That same year, he was awarded the Grand Prize “Nouveau Talent” of the Federation Nationale de la Culture Française. Since then the gallery has held five solo shows for the artist. In the catalogue accompanying the gallery’s 1994 exhibition for Leng, Sophie Orloff wrote, “Leng Hong is a painter of departures. Joyful departures swollen with hopes, vibrant with enthusiasm, at the idea of what is to be found; departures loaded with memories and nostalgia of what is left behind. And always, this dream of an elsewhere.”
He has had numerous exhibitions, including at the Musée des Beaux-arts de Bordeaux, France; Musée de Pau, France; Chateau d'Issan, France; National Art Museum of China, Beijing; Shanghai Art Museum. His artwork has been featured on French Television, broadcast on FR3, and Shanghai Television. His works have been collected by Château Pètrus and Château Beychevelle, France; Suzhou Museum; Liu Haisu Art Museum; Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy; HSBC Art Collection, Shanghai; Yangzhou Museum; Zhenjiang Museum; Changzhou Museum, China.
BIOGRAPHY
1955 Born in Shanghai, China
1975-78 Studies at Shanghai Institute of Theatre and Dramatic Arts, Fine Arts Department, Shanghai, China
1978-86 Researcher at Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Shanghai, China
Member of Shanghai Chinese Artists Association
1979 Professor at Shanghai Institute of Theatre and Dramatic Arts, Shanghai, China
1985 Professor at Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Shanghai, China
1986-92 Worked and lived in France
1989-90 Professor at University Bordeaux 3, Department of Far Eastern Studies, Bordeaux, France
1992 Moved to Canada
2006-08 Adjunct Professor, Fine Arts Department, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
Present Lives and works in Canada
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015
- As Last Night Twinkle Stars, As Last Night Blows the Breeze: Oil Paintings by Leng Hong, Le French May, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- From Dawn to Dusk II, ArtCN Gallery, Shanghai, China
2013
- D’ici et d’ailleurs, Chateau d‘Issan, Bordeaux, France
2012
- Suzhou Museum, Jiangsu, China
2011
- Yangzhou Museum, Jiangsu, China
- Enchanted Seasons: New Works by Leng Hong, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
2010
- Exhibition & Symposium of Leng Hong's Works, Chateau Haut-Bailly, Bordeaux, France
- Painting by Leng Hong, Changzhou Museum, Jiangsu, China
- Zhenjiang Museum, Jiangsu, China
- Annual Exhibition of Shanghai Nonlocal Enterprises Federation, Shanghai, China
2009
- As Last Night Twinkle Stars, As Last Night Blows the Breeze, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- Scented Seasons, Elisabeth de Brabant Art Center, Shanghai, China
- Four Seasons, Shanghai International Art Festival, Shanghai, China
- Annual Exhibition of Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce Shanghai, Shanghai, China
2008
- Paris in Shanghai: A Feast for Leng Hong’s Art, Nobility Arts Society, Shanghai, China
- West Lake International Art Fair, Hangzhou, China
2007
- CIGE International Art Fair, Beijing, China
- Exhibition & Symposium of Leng Hong's Works, Nobility Arts Society, High Gallery, Shanghai, China
2005
- J. Gallery, Shanghai, China
2004
- Hong Merchant Gallery, Shanghai, China
2002
- Yan Gallery, Hong Kong
1999
- Painting by Leng Hong & Symposium, Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Shanghai, China
1997
- Toōnichi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1996
- Memories of the Homeland, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- Galerie Observatoire 4, Montreal, Canada
- Artfolio Gallery, Singapore
1994
- Douce France, Le French May Festival, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
1992
- Galerie Hexagone, Aachen, Germany
- Dannenberg Gallery, New York, USA
- Art Source Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
1991
- Galerie France, Bordeaux, France
1990
- Galerie Ecritures, Montlucon, France
1989
- VKB Bank, Linz, Austria
1988
- Poetic Landscapes, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
1986
- Exhibition & Symposium, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- Exhibition & Symposium, Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Shanghai, China
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
- Define Nature, Shanghai Haipai Art Museum, Shanghai, China (9 Aug-1 Sept)
- Intermezzo, Galerie Oriane, Munich, Germany
2023
2022
- Landscapes Through Time, Fine Art Asia, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
- Turning Point, LL Contemporary, Ontario, Canada
2021
- Inaugural Pastel Art Exhibition, Shanghai Pastel Society, Weide Art Sapce; Jiushi Art Museum The Bund, Shanghai, China
- Leng Hong & Michel Braun: Dream of a Butterfly, Red Zone Arts, Frankfurt, Germany
2019
- The Lightness of Being (with Pauline Ohrel), ArtCN Gallery, Shanghai, China
2014
- Art Paris, Paris, France
2011
- Art Beijing 2011, Beijing, China
2010
- Shanghai Expo 2010 (with Chen Pei Qiu), Shanghai, China
2007
- AIAA International Art Fair, Hong Kong
- Fine Jewellery and Art Fair International ’07 (with Xie Zhi Liu, Chen Pei Qiu), Shanghai, China
2006
2004
- Shanghai Spring Salon, Shanghai
- 10.20 Experimental Art Exhibition, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai Abstract Art Exhibition, Shanghai Ming-Yuan Art Centre, Shanghai, China
2002
- Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1999-2007
- Shanghai International Art Fair, Shanghai, China
1998
- Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Galerie Observatoire 4, Montreal, Canada
1996
- Sea Horizon, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1995
- ExpoArte Art Fair, Guadalajara, Mexico
- International Exhibition in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, Guild Arts Centre Gallery, Silvermine, New Canaan, USA
- Lineart ICC International Art Fair, Belgium
1994
- Mandarin Oriental Fine Arts, Hong Kong
1993
- Bernard Dannenberg Gallery, New York, USA
1992
- Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- Musée de Pau, Pau, France
- Palais du Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, France
- Centre Culturel de la Visitation, Perigueux, France
- Art Asia Hong Kong International Art Fair, Hong Kong
1991
- Conseil Regional d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux, France
1990
- Exhibition of Collection CAVIAR (with Loïc Le Groumellec, Jean-Charles Blais, Robert Combas, Claude Viallat), Aquitaine, France
1987
- A State of Transition: Contemporary Paintings from Shanghai, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong
- Salon d‘Automne, Paris, France
1986
- 1st Sea Horizon Painting & Sculpture Invitational Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1985
- National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
1984
- Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1983
- Stage '83: Painting Experiment, with Li Shan, Zhang Jian-Jun, Fudan University Shanghai, China
SELECTED AWARDS
1985 Creative Works Award, Shanghai, China
1987 First Grand Prize of the City Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
Grand Prize “Nouveau Talent”, Federation Nationale de la Culture Française, France
1988 Prize “Couleurs d’Aujour d’hui”, France
1992 Prize “Symposium d’Arts Plastiques”, France
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Duclot, Château Pètrus, Bordeaux, France
Château Beychevelle, Saint-Julien, France
Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China
Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Shanghai, China
Yangzhou Museum, Yangzhou, China
Zhenjiang Museum,Zhenjiang, China
Changzhou Museum, Changzhou, China
HSBC Art Collection, Shanghai, China
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
1983 Experimental Exhibition , Fudan University, Shanghai, China
1991 Leng Hong Exhibition, Galerie France, Bordeaux, France
1996 Memories of the Homeland, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
1999 Leng Hong Exhibition, Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, Shanghai, China
2008 Paris in Shanghai: A Feast for Leng Hong’s Art, Nobility Arts Society, Shanghai, China
2009 As Last Night Twinkle Stars, As Last Night Blows the Breeze, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Scented Seasons, Elisabeth de Brabant Art Center, Shanghai, China
Four Seasons, Shanghai International Art Festival, Shanghai, China
2010 As Last Night Twinkle Stars, As Last Night Blows the Breeze,Changzhou Museum, Jiangsu, China
As Last Night Twinkle Stars, As Last Night Blows the Breeze, Zhenjiang Museum, Jiangsu, China
2011 As Last Night Twinkle Stars, As Last Night Blows the Breeze, Yangzhou Museum, Jiangsu, China
2012 As Last Night Twinkle Stars, As Last Night Blows the Breeze, Suzhou Museum, Jiangsu, China
2013 D’ici et d’ailleurs, Chateau d‘Issan, Bordeaux, France
2019 The Lightness of Being, ArtCN Gallery, Shanghai, China
