A guide to contemporary Chinese oil painting

Oil technique, Chinese subjects

Chinese art academies have long taught Western oil technique: drawing from life, color theory, glazing and impasto. Many contemporary painters apply that training to subjects from the Chinese tradition, so you see the misty peaks and bird-and-flower compositions of ink painting rendered with the color and texture of oil paint.

The main subjects you will find

Landscape and mountains in mist

The most loved subject in Chinese painting. In oil, painters use layered, cool color for distant ridges and thick paint for rock and foliage in front. Landscape paintings (193 works).

Bird-and-flower painting

A classical genre pairing birds with seasonal plants: plum blossom and magpies for good news, lotus for purity, bamboo for resilience, persimmons for good fortune. Floral and bird-and-flower paintings (112 works).

Scholar rocks

Eroded limestone from Lake Tai (Taihu stones) was collected by Chinese scholars for centuries as objects of contemplation. Several of our painters paint them in cool mineral blues, sometimes with bamboo.

Water towns and old villages

Canals, stone bridges and whitewashed walls of the water towns south of the Yangtze, and the round earthen tulou houses of Fujian. Village and water town paintings (25 works).

Animals

Galloping horses and tigers are traditional symbols of energy and courage. The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac are a popular gift subject. Animal paintings (86 works).

Figures

Flying apsaras (feitian) come from the Buddhist murals of the Dunhuang caves; contemporary painters render their floating ribbons in soft oil color. Figurative paintings (15 works).

How to buy

Look for a gallery that names each painter, states whether a work is one of a kind or a limited edition, and shows the paint surface up close. Check that framing and shipping to your country are included and insured. Our buying checklist covers what to ask.

Painters on Bristoli Gallery

We work directly with 36 contemporary Chinese painters. Each has a page with all of their available work:

• Wang Yucheng — landscape, animals, 155 works
• Chen Tiexiong — landscape, villages & water towns, 36 works
• Liang Weiping — floral & bird-and-flower, landscape, 35 works
• Zheng Xuexiang — floral & bird-and-flower, abstract, 27 works
• Chen Meizhong — floral & bird-and-flower, villages & water towns, 26 works
• Cai Chaoyang — seascape, landscape, 22 works
• Lai Zhouping — floral & bird-and-flower, animals, 18 works
• Wang Chunyan — animals, floral & bird-and-flower, 16 works
• Lin Yunxiong — floral & bird-and-flower, figurative, 13 works
• Gao Yicheng — animals, abstract, 9 works
• Lin Piqun — floral & bird-and-flower, abstract, 9 works
• Zeng Guoquan — landscape, abstract, 8 works

See all 36 artists.