Some artists, possessing the skill of hyperrealism, try to surprise the viewer by prescribing even the smallest details on their canvases with photographic accuracy; others write as if they were sculpting shapes from rough strokes. Their work at close range is a mess and sheer daub, and when you step away, you can't take your eyes off. But a self-taught painter with extraordinary talent and original artistic handwriting Ken Hong Leung he takes his viewer with a magic palette, which, shimmering, plays with the whole spectrum of the rainbow. Magic, and nothing more.
Chinese by birth Ken Hong Leung was born back in 1933 in Canton, in the province of Hong Kong. Nature generously endowed the young man with a talent who independently comprehended the basics of painting in his native province. And by the beginning of the 60s, the whole of Hong Kong started talking about him, where he moved at the age of 19 and joined the ranks of novice painters. In those early years, the subject matter of his works made a real sensation in the artistic environment. Its provincial fishing villages, vivid landscapes of banks, waterfalls and mountain peaks, not conditioned by the framework of composition and color - all this was new and progressive in Chinese painting.
Soon there was even a struggle between the best galleries in Hong Kong for the opportunity to exhibit the works of the young artist. Art critics vied with each other to write laudatory articles, calling the original master "the master of fantastic landscapes, dreamy moods and magical reflections of light and color."
And not so many years will pass as the artist is recognized as one of the best neo-impressionists in the world at the end of the 20th century. And he will move with his wife and four sons to San Francisco in the USA, where he will live and create his fantastic landscapes for many years. By the way, two of his sons followed in their father's footsteps - they are professionally painting.
Nowadays, Hong Leung's work is in demand not only among collectors, his works take prizes and are awarded prestigious prizes at various world art forums and exhibitions.
Although the artist often paints the city and seascapes of San Francisco, the artist's favorite theme is the views of his homeland, where peace and harmony are felt in everything. Mountains, waterfalls, flora, even fog are saturated with a magical overflow of light and a sense of a huge space, and a semi-abstract style of painting allows the viewer to guess what the author wanted to say with this or that work.
But the most impressive thing in the artist's creations is that all his works are made in oil, although at first glance it seems unrealistic - the technique of execution is very much like a delicate watercolor. But all the same it is - butter!
Complete freedom in the color palette and the absence of any style restrictions - this is the business card of Hong Leung - an artist without a classical education, who made his name himself, with his hard work and talent.
Typically, self-taught artists are amazing craftsmen, capable of creating incredible things. They pour out on their canvases not only creative thought, but also something intimate, only inherent in them …
Continuing the theme of the original masters, read: Solar painting by John McCartin - the artist who combined space, air and light into a single whole
