Artist Biography
Au Ho-nien is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost artists in Chinese painting today. He is the Huagang Chair Professor of Art at the University of Chinese Culture in Taipei. This is a prestigious position and a most eminent accolade for an artist in Taiwan. Besides being a master painter and calligrapher, he is also an accomplished seal carver, a connoisseur of Chinese art, and a cultivated scholar of the Chinese classics.Born in Guangdong Province in 1935, Au Ho-nien became a student of Zhao Shao-ang, a renowned master of the “Lingnan School” of painting in 1952. After almost half a century, Au is now himself one of the great masters of this school of painting.
Among the distinctive elements of Au Ho-nien’s style is a skillful use of the traditional principles of “broken ink” and “dry brush” harmonized with the technique of water and pigment infusion. He likes to apply ink tones and color washes directly while sparing the use of outline, thus achieving an exciting effect which emphasizes dimension and distance.
In his painting, Au Ho-nien strives to bring forth the visual harmony of nature by playing with delicate patterns and by balancing light and shade. His painting possesses a special quality of liveliness, elegance, and sublimity.
Au’s calligraphy is characterized by vigorous and forceful brush strokes and is individual in style. His expertise in calligraphy has increased the dexterity of his brushwork, enabling him to more easily reach his artistic goals, fulfilling the philosophy of the Lingnan School: “taking nature as teacher and relying on one’s own intelligence”.