Shang Ding - Lanning Gallery [Sedona Arizona]

"Hong Han"
Oil on Canvas Painting
10" x 8"

Shang Ding was fourteen when his parents were arrested and held for three years during China’s Cultural Revolution. This event, during the late 1960s, dramatically changed the life of the budding young artist. Shang grew up as the youngest of six children, his father a journalist and his mother a factory union leader, and remembers becoming intrigued by painting at the age of three. But the imprisonment of his parents fixed Shang with the urgent need to secure his future by dedicating himself to his artistic studies.

At seventeen, Shang joined the army working at his paintings by flashlight at night. Eight years of painting under these conditions gave the young artist a deep understanding of ordinary people and their perseverance in the face of hardship and fear. He labored at the frontlines of several battles in southern China while China was at war with North Vietnam – after the U.S. had pulled out. Shang’s paintings of soldiers at war elicited the very best of his talent and his work began receiving awards.

In 1974, at an art show in Beijing, Shang’s work was noticed by Mao Zedong’s wife. Greatly impressed that such talent could come from a 20-year-old she drew tremendous attention to his work. Professors from the Central Art Academy were equally impressed, and Shang began his path to fame in China. Shang received a Masters Degree from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts and became an Associate Professor at the Peoples Liberation Army Academy of Art, delivering regular lectures at the Chinese Central Academy of Fine Arts. Shang Ding is now a highly acclaimed oil painter in China and an eminently respected professor of painting there. He is noted in several reference publications in China that cite great Chinese painters since the 1700’s. His paintings of the Cultural Revolution and Chinese army life provided these events with exquisitely skilled and rare documentation.

"Girl in Wind of April"
Oil on Canvas Painting
24" x 30"

In the late 1980s Shang was able to pursue his desire to begin a new art career in the West. As impressed as he is with the United States, adjustments did not always come easy. “Life here is always new and changing; the culture is new and people are not afraid of change.? In China, Shang had stories to tell but his expression was limited; in America, it is his goal to tell an international story that everyone can relate to. Today, as Shang moves comfortably between the U.S. and China, he finds his oil paintings exhibited in every major museum in China as well as Japan and other countries. His paintings are currently being collected by museums, galleries and private collections across the U.S.

Click on a painting to see a larger view.

"Hong Han by Fence" - Oriental Oil Painting by Shang Ding

"Hong Han by Fence"
Oil on Canvas Painting
20" x 16"

Artist's prices beginning at $2,200 up to $22,000.

Keep an Eye on this Artist.
For confidential artist updates - click here to register.

"Boat"
Oil on Canvas Painting
24" x 18"
Shang Ding and Shang Qian

For further information about our Art Gallery and Artists, please call (928) 282-6865.

Copyright©1999-2015.? All Rights Reserved. The content of this contemporary and fine art gallery site is owned exclusively by the Lanning Gallery [Sedona Arizona]. All artwork is the sole property of each respective artist. Any reproduction or other use of artistic images contained in this art gallery website without written permission of the respective artists is expressly prohibited. Art prices may vary according to market value.

Sedona Art Gallery Site Maintained by
"Reliable Web Designs"