“Funing, my hometown, is a place of beauty. Landscaped with mountains, sea, and the Great Wall, it is my big artistic inspiration”, said Mr. YU Guangming, an established watercolor painter from China. “The magnificent Jieling Xiongguan Pass, the vast Tianma Lake, the rich-in-history sites of Tianma,Tuer and Zijin Mountain, the blossom- filled Ninghai Avenue, and the Nandaihe Beach – every inch of Funing offers inexhaustible source for my creativity”, he continued.
On 15 June 2025, the opening ceremony of “Great Beauty of Funing” 2025 featuring works from Yu Guangming Watercolor Studio was held in Vienna, highly successful und fruitful. The studio has brought over 60 exquisite watercolors, hand-painted porcelain from Jingdezhen, weaving and other art works for this year’s Europe tour (Vienna-Paris). The vernissage evening saw a good crowd of visitors enchanted by the paintings and eager to collect their beloved art pieces.
Watercolor painting is an ancient art form, if not the oldest. It enjoys a long tradition in East Asia, India, Ethiopia, and other regions. Western artists, however, used watercolor primarily as a sketching tool in preparation for oil or copperplate engraving. Until the end of the 18th century, traditional watercolors were known in the West as colored drawings. The German Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer is generally considered one of the earliest examples of watercolor painting. His watercolor works of botanical, animal, and landscape motifs are of supreme quality. Due to the special effect of watercolor pigments, the watercolor paintings exhibit bright, transparent, elegant, fresh, and natural visual effects. The works for “Great Beauty of Funing” 2025 are minute examples of such characteristics.
Located in Hebei Province, China, Funing is a charming district in the City of Qinhuangdao. YU Guangming set up his watercolor studio there in October 2017. The studio offers watercolor classes, organizes research on watercolor art topics, participates in various national exhibitions, plans international and national exhibitions, promotes watercolor art on a voluntary basis, and supports charitable activities.
Over the years, Mr. YU has traveled abroad six times, held exhibitions in Paris and Vienna, and visited more than ten European countries, which benefited him greatly. The unique customs of diverse cultural backgrounds inspired him to paint art works which possess the fluidity of Western painting while retaining the charm of Eastern culture. His studio members have been following this integrated aesthetic, too.
GAO Qiang, ZHANG Haitao, ZHU Jianjian, XING Yixi, XUE Kexin, and ZHANG Jiaping from the studio joined this year’s European trip, along with the accompanying translator TONG Yunuo and the photographer LIU Pengcheng. The exhibited works showcased Funing’s natural beauty and cultural history. More importantly, they conveyed the artists’ deep affection to the hometown. The sincere hope by the artists is no less than the wish that their watercolor works will open the door to the Europeans who might have little idea where Funing is.
Prof. Dr. Richard Trappl, sinologist, former director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Vienna, held a warm-hearted speech for the event. Ms. Mag. Landwehr, Secretary General of the European-Chinese International Art Exchange Association, welcomed all the guests to the exhibition. YU Guangming, studio director, vice president of the European-China International Art Exchange Association, deputy director of the watercolor art committee of the Hebei Artists Association, gave a detailed introduction to his team and to this year’s Europe tour for the vernissage guests. “We’d like to promote exchange between Chinese and Western cultures”, he uttered joyfully. Prof. Mag. Helena Chang from SINOPRESS moderated the event.
Present at the event were some known personalities from Austria and the Chinese community in Vienna, including Erika Amsz, former court councilor from the Austrian Foreign Ministry; Mag. Willi Frötscher, architect with his own office; Adrien Hofbauer, lecturer at the Institute for Conservation and Restoration (IKR), Academy of Fine Arts Vienna; Karl Rieder MSc. and Christiane, artists and gallery owners; Mag. Hans Kunstovny and Koko, professional musicians; Mag. Barbara Kühnen, restorer at tAlbertina Museum; Hermann Kroiher, UNCAV Secretary General; Sandro Rosso, screen-writer; Dr. Qian Faqiang, President of the Chinese Retired Association in Austria; Mag. Du Fei, garment design artist; Mag. Huangpu Xiaolan, ink wash painter; Zhang Yuhang, UNO employee; Zuo Ya, Director of Aohua Chinese School; He Yang, Master of Economics from the University of Vienna, observer of Yu Guangming Watercolor Studio.
Be the first to comment on "“Great Beauty of Funing” 2025 –Yu Guangming Watercolor Studio Started its Europe Tour in Vienna"