During the long and rich artistic life of Han Yuchen, more changes will have happened in China than during a century in Europe. Not only Han Yuchen is a protagonist of these changes but he is also a keen observer who is definitely able, through his painting, to capture a real spirit of times. He is now celebrated in a solo show at the National Art Museum of Beijing for his longlife career.
Han Yuchen’s works are unique, because if the academic style of the artist achieves a pictorial realism such as it is similar to photography, it nevertheless leaves enough room, spontaneity and liberty in the gesture, to that the painting itself transcribes the emotions and what the artist depicts on his canvas.
Han Yuchen’s painting is very forged in Chinese academicism, which he learned alongside with masters such as Li Hua (李桦1907-1994), Su Gaoli (苏高丽) and Liang Yulong (梁玉龙1922-2011), and has was also strongly influenced by the work of some of his peers like Dong Xiwen (董希文1914-1973), Chen Danqing (陈丹青) or Ai Xuan (艾轩). This style, which the artist has retained throughout his career, is at odds with the Chinese contemporary movement that obtained international recognition. In China the National Art Museum in Beijing has made a full retrospective of his work in 2022, and he has internationally been acclaimed. He has been a professor at the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Saint Petersburg. Amongst other solo exhibitions of Han Yuchen, mention should be made of those held at the Decorative Arts Museum in Paris, Repin Academic Institute in Saint Petersburg, Brussels, and Lahasa. Following his accomplishment in Tibet’s sacred capital was Han Yuchen’s first solo exhibition in Italy, “The Realm of Purity”, held at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.
