Chien Chung-Wei 簡忠威, 1968 | Romantic Cityscape painter

Chien Chung-Wei 簡忠威aimed to be a painter at age 10. He earned the master degree in Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University and was selected as one of the 30 painters in One Hundred Years of Watercolor in Taiwan in 2009. In 2010, he set up the world’s first live demonstration teaching system in Chung-Wei Chien’s Art Studio for teaching watercolor. In 2014, he was selected in the 147th AWS Annual International Exhibition and the 94th NWS Annual International Exhibition; which made him the first Taiwanese painter get selected in the AWS and NWS annual exhibition. In addition, he was also accepted as the signature member in NWS in the same year.

The watercolor works of Chien Chung-Wei appear to embrace the spirits and temperament of the Western watercolor masters over the last two centuries. By age 32, his works tended to be delicate and classic and were reminiscent of the works of William Henry Hunt and Myles Birket Foster. After that, he gradually focused on the expression of the essence of watercolors.

You can see the spirits of some great watercolor masters, such as Thomas Girtin, John Sell Cotman, J.M.W. Turner, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sergent, and Edward Seago, in his works. In the meantime, he also broke the boundary between watercolors and oil paints.

He created a series of works using watercolors and gouache and looked like the Romantic oil paintings in the 19th century. Those works totally changed the conventional impression of watercolors. His works are temperant and classic in colors with masterful brushstrokes, which endow every character with a rich fullness. He creates the beauty and intrigue of form even with ordinary subjects, and that’s the enchantment of his watercolors.

In the trend of the contemporary art, Chien Chung-Wei enjoys the popularity in recent years. This seems to let us reconsider the pictorial value of the classic spirit in painting.

• 1968 - Born in Keelung, Taiwan.
• 1978 - Aims to be a painter.
• 1985 - Attends art studios learning sketching and watercolor.
• 1986 - Attends the Department of Applied Arts, Fu Jen Catholic University with a top of the nationwide score in sketching, but a pretty low score in watercolor on the college extrance examination.
• 1990 - Graduates from the Deparment of Applied Arts, Fu Jen Catholic University with seven watercolor portraits as the honors project.
• 1998 - Earns the master degree in Fine Arts, National Taiwan Normal University; opens the first solo exhibition, “Symphony Poems in the End of 20th Century”, and publishes The Watercolor Collection of Chung-Wei Chien.
• 1999 - Receives the Second Annual Arts Award, Rotary Club of Taipei Tunghua.
• 2001 - Co-founds Chung-Wei Chien’s Art Studio with Hsiao-Hui Huang; teaches painting basics.
• 2001/2011 - Works as a part-time lecturer teaching watercolor couses in the Department of Applied Arts, Fu Jen Catholic University.
• 2005 /Present - Serves as the director of Chinese Asia-Pacific Watercolor Association.
• 2006 - Publishes Learning Watercolors from Demonstrations.
• 2009 - Is selected as one of the 30 painters in One Hundred Years of Watercolor in Taiwan and is invited to join the Exhibition of Watercolor Classics in Taiwan.
• 2010 - Sets up the world’s first live demonstration teaching system in Chung-Wei Chien’s Art Studio for teaching watercolor.
• 2013 - Is featured in the 13rd issue of The Art of Watercolour Magazine: France, Sep. /Oct., 2013.

2014

• Is selected in the 147th AWS Annual International Exhibition and is the first Taiwanese painter got selected in the AWS annual exhibition.
• Opens the second solo exhibition and publishes The Intrigue of Form.
• The Waterways in Venice, is selected as the finalist in International Artist Magazine’s Art Prize Challenge No. 80 and is published in Issue 96 April/May 2014.
• Is invited by the World Watermedia Exposition Thailand for group exhibition and painting on site.
• The Watercolour Impressions of Venice is selected in the Open Water, Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour Annual Open Juried Exhibition.
• One Night in Venice is selected in the 94th NWS Annual International Exhibition and is the first Taiwanese painter got selected in the NWS annual exhibition and became the signature member.
• Snow Scene in Shirakawa wins the Best of Show in Watermedia Showcase competition 2014.
• Is invited by Zhongshan International Watercolor Exhibition for the group exhibition and painting on site.
• Is featured in the 17th issue of Watercolor Express Magazine: Taiwan, Dec. 2014.
• Is featured in the 17th issue of The Art of Watercolour Magazine: France, Dec. 2014/Feb. 2015.

2015

• Bali Left Bank Park wins the Alan R. Chiara Memorial Award in the 148th Annual International Exhibition of American Watercolor Society (AWS).

Chien Chung-Wei è un acquerellista Taiwanese multi-premiato.
Chien Chung-Wei aspirava a diventare un pittore dall'età di 10 anni. Ha conseguito la laurea in Belle Arti alla National Taiwan Normal University ed è stato selezionato come uno dei 30 pittori di acquerello più importanti degli ultimi cento anni a Taiwan nel 2009.

Nel 2010, ha fondato il primo sistema di insegnamento dimostrazione dal vivo del mondo presso l’Art Studio di Chung-Wei Chien per l’insegnamento acquerello.

Nel 2014, è stato selezionato alla 147° Mostra Internazionale AWS ed al 94° Salone Internazionale NWS dove è stato anche insignito del titolo di firma della NWS.

Le opere ad acquerello di Chien Chung-Wei sembrano abbracciare gli spiriti e il temperamento dei maestri di acquerello occidentali nel corso degli ultimi due secoli.

Inizialmente le sue opere tendevano a essere delicate e classiche ricordando le opere di William Henry Hunt e Myles Birket Foster.

Dopo di che, si è concentrato sulla espressione dell’essenza degli acquerelli.

Potete vedere nelle sue opere lo spirito di alcuni grandi maestri dell’acquerello, come Thomas Girtin, John Sell Cotman, JMW Turner, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, e Edward Seago.

Nel frattempo, rompe il confine tra acquerelli e colori ad olio e crea una serie di opere con acquerelli e gouache che asomigliano a dipinti ad olio romantici nel XIX secolo.

Questi lavori cambiano totalmente l’impressione convenzionale degli acquerelli.

Le sue opere sono impressioniste e classiche sia nei colori che nelle magistrali pennellate, conferendo ad ogni personaggio una pienezza caratteriale.

Egli crea la bellezza e “l’intrigo della forma” anche con soggetti normali, e questo è l’incanto dei suoi acquerelli.

Nel trend dell’arte contemporanea, Chien Chung-Wei gode di una grande popolarità internazionale.