Wang Shiyan

Wang Shiyan was modern Chinese painter born in Baoding, China. He studied art at the prestigious Fine Arts Academy of China and classical Chinese literature at Hunan University.

Today he is a member of the Chinese National Federation of Fine Arts Professionals, the national Association of Plastic Arts, the Hunan folk fine arts Society, and a Fine Arts Master, a title conferred by the Chinese government to artists of great renown and experience. He is also Professor of classical painting in several Hunan province universities and Curator of the Embroidery Museum at the Hunan Embroidery Research Institute. During the recent census of national heritage, he was appointed permanent advisor to the regional committee on cultural heritage by the regional governor. He has won numerous artistic awards, including one ministerial and four national gold medals.

Travel is an important source of inspiration for his many landscape paintings. He has travelled through nearly all of China and more recently, has visited several European countries as well. In 2003, he participated in a cultural exchange programme established by the Chinese and Tunisian governments. In his role as Artistic Director of a group of experts, he spent one year in Tunis, teaching art and Chinese culture.

Over the last forty years, Wang has been instrumental in the promotion and revitalisation of the region’s artistic heritage, most notably through the research he has led into the field of traditional Hunan embroidery, now classified as part of what is known as China’s intangible national heritage.

Nowadays, he can describe himself as an artist, a professor, an expert in regional folk culture, or an art curator. However, his preferred title is the simple one of "painter", since for him, this passion, this dream from his youth is still as vital as ever, the enjoyment he derives from his paintings and calligraphic works, just as real.