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Dunhuang Buddhist Art of the 9th Century
ID: RP-GP002
Artist: Gao Peng (1962-)
Date: 1985
Size: 72 x 35 in. with mounting
Ink and color on paper, mounted on satin, ready for framing
Price: $5,000
Chinese Art Specialist Comments: "This painting depicts a Bodhasattva in the most fashionable Tang manner (618-907). It was painted in 1985 by the signed artist who is currently working for the Dunhuang Research Academy as a professional artist. This painting is monumental in size, stylish in presentation, and fathful in capturing the current status of famous Dunhuang Buddhist wall painting. The most remarkable feature of the painting is the ability of the artist in using calligraphic lines to delineate the divine beauty of the subject."
This painting is one of the best paintings presented by WEI YANG CHINESE ART. It is a rare and musem-quality work, since the speedy deterioration of Dunhuang Buddhist art in the cave temple will soon inspire the growing appreciation for the original beaty of a 9th century Buddhist presentation.
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Biography of the Artist
Gao Peng was born in 1962 into a doctor’s family in Jiuquan, Gansu. His love for painting started at a very early age. His talent for art was initially recognized by his father, Dr. Gao Zhenyuan, who is an amateur calligrapher. Dr. Gao started to give his son preliminary training in calligraphy when he was still in kindergarten. Even now his former high school teachers still chide him for trying to use drawings rather than compositions in all of his subjects. After graduating from high school in 1978, Gao became a professional artist in Dunhuang. Currently he holds an appointment in the Art Research Institute at the Dunhuang Research Academy.
Gao was trained to be professional artist specializing in reproducing Buddhist paintings in the Dunhuang caves. His early mentors included the distinguished Professor Duan Wenjie (former Director of the Dunhuang Research Academy), Wan Guangyu, and Ouyang Lin. After several years of on-site training, Gao’s talent for capturing the subtlety of Buddhist images was recognized by the Research Academy. Gao was sent to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing to receive further education in classical Chinese painting in 1984. After his graduation in 1988, he returned to Dunhuang and was appointed as senior professional artist. His reproductions of Dunhuang Buddhist art have received worldwide recognition and have been exhibited in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, France, Japan, and elsewhere.
Buddhist Art by Professional Artists from Sichuan and Gansu This painting highlights the Tang (618-907) artistic style preserved in the Dunhuang Buddhist cave-temples. It achieves an exquisite synthesis of foreign influences balanced with Chinese aesthetic values. The painting is unique in its combination of a rich floral motif, jewelry ornamentation, and vegetable vocabulary. The dark skin of the subject is the result of the oxidization of mineral pigments used in coloring.
The reproduction of Dunhuang Buddhist painting shown here showcases the high quality of Gao’s work and his ability to reproduce authentic Buddhist figure paintings from Dunhuang and the Silk Road. Gao is willing to take commissions related to Buddhist paintings from Dunhuang, the Khara Khoto Collection at St. Petersburg, and paintings recovered from the “Library Cave” in Dunhuang (Cave 17, discovered in 1900) and held in the British Museum, The Musée Guimet in France, and the New Delhi Museum.
Buddhist Paintings offered at Chinese Art Paintings consists of the highest-quality hand-painted Buddhist paintings from the Silk Road. Most of our Buddhist paintings are based on wall paintings in the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang (Gansu province) in northwestern China. They were painted by the school-trained professional artsits currently employed by Dunhuang Research Academy. We also offer Buddhist paintings in the styles of famous ancient Buddhist art currently held in the British Museum (London), the Musée Guimet (Paris), and the Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg). We assure you that every Buddhist painting we offer was individually hand-painted by an accomplished artist who signed the work.
