Very early in life, Liu Dan immersed himself in the study of classical Chinese civilisation such as Confucian classics, painting, antiquities and calligraphy. These led to studying Chinese painting at the Jiangsu Traditional Painting Institute. Prior to gaining formal training in Chinese art, Liu had already exposed himself to Western art by copying photographs of Renaissance drawings from books that were confiscated during the Cultural Revolution.
In 1981, he moved to the US where, by integrating Chinese and Western art and culture, Liu was able to create works of art that, though intrinsically Chinese, speak to a global audience. He moved back to Beijing in 2006.
Viewing his work ‘slows down the eye,’ says Michael Goedhuis. Liu’s skilful paintings, whether of scholar’s rocks, old cypress trees, landscapes or flowers, feature detailed, almost photographic, interpretations of these natural objects. In 2016, three of his works, including one from the collection of British art dealers Marcus and Debby Flacks were sold by Christie’s and Sotheby’s at prices between USD500,000 to USD800,000. Two of Liu’s larger landscapes were auctioned in Beijing in 2017 and 2020, going for USD1 million (double the low estimate) and USD1.2 million (within estimate), respectively.
Liu Dan’s work is in the collections of the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University, the Princeton University Art Museum, the Brooklyn Museum and the Andrew Mellon Foundation in New York, the San Diego Museum of Art and the Musée Guimét in Paris.
Liu Dan was featured in a story by Anna Sophie Gross in Vanity Fair
in October 2018 and in the Financial Times in October 2015.
